Summoner's Choice
by Midnight Rain 87
Summary: Takes place one year after Dirge of Cerberus, then flashbacks to one year before Crisis Core where the gist of the story takes place. It will eventually be a Sephiroth pairing. It's Jasmine's story and her life and love for Sephiroth.
1. Prologue

_Here is the next story that I've had in my head for a while. It was just begging to be released and read by all of you. This one is more centered around Sephiroth and the idea of what would have happened if he had found love. Anyway enough of that. On with the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz, someone I work with, gets credit for the title of this story. Thanks Megz, you were a great help in figuring out the title._

Prologue

"Mom, how much longer till Midgar? I'm tired of travelling." said a young boy with short silver hair. He was wearing a long sleeve dark green shirt, blue jeans and black tennis shoes. He also was wearing a beige coat.

"Hopefully it won't be too much longer honey." replied a young woman with long black hair and brown highlights that could be seen in the sunlight. She was wearing a light blue sleeveless shirt and lavender dress that was split in the front. Under the dress was loose purple pants and mid calf high boots. She was wearing a dark blue cloak with a hood over her clothes.

They came upon a hill overlooking a field and city. She stopped short, slightly shocked at the sight. She stood there staring at the sight not saying anything and it started to scare her son.

"Mom, what's wrong?" he asked.

"By my memory Midgar should be here. I don't understand, what happened to it?" she asked herself as she continued to gaze at the city.

"Mom?"

"Come on Jack. Let's see what we can find out in that city." she said.

_A/N: There is the prologue for you. I hope you find this story interesting and like it. This one is not related to the last one in anyway. Okay, enough of that. R&R!_


	2. Chapter 1

_Here is the first chapter. Sorry for not updating earlier, but I had to work and I got some inspiration to write the first chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz gets some rights to the title of the story._

Chapter 1

"Does any of this look familiar?" Jack asked as he walked through town with his mother.

"No. This city is completely new. I don't understand, where is Midgar?" she said, then she saw the remains of the Shinra building in the distance. "That's the Shinra building, but what happened?"

"What do you mean what happened? Meteor touched down in Midgar and destroyed it."

The young woman turned to the man the voice belonged to, giving him a questioning look. He had flaming red hair and had a man who was bald standing next to him.

"Wait a minute, violet eyes. Jasmine?" the red head said.

The woman started to smile. "Reno, Rude." She replied as she gave them each a hug.

"How have you been Jazzie Jaz?" Reno asked.

"I've been fine Reno. How have you two been?" Jasmine replied.

"Just fine, eh Rude?" Reno answered. He then noticed the boy standing next to Jasmine and gave him a small smile. "Cute kid. Is he yours?"

"Yes, this is my son Jack. Jack, this is Reno and Rude." Jasmine said.

"**The** Reno and Rude?" he asked.

"Yes, the Reno and Rude." Jasmine answered.

"So cool. I've always wanted to meet you guys since I was told about you from mom." Jack said.

Reno gave Jack a small smile then turned his attention back to Jasmine. "So what are you doing back here? I thought you were-"

"I am, but we came here looking for someone and I think you know who." Jasmine replied.

"Jack does look like someone that we knew." Rude said.

"Knew? You mean he's dead?" Jasmine asked.

"I'm…afraid so Jaz." Reno said.

"How?" Jasmine asked, tears starting in her eyes.

Reno started to rub the back of his head, showing his discomfort. "I don't think we're the right people to answer that, but we know someone who can. Come with us."

Tifa was behind the bar cleaning some glasses when she heard the door open. She looked up and sighed when she saw that it was Reno and Rude. Her interest was caught when she saw they had a young woman and young boy with them.

"Yo Tifa, when is Cloud coming back?" Reno asked as he walked up to the bar.

"Probably not for to much longer Reno. He had a few deliveries to take care of today." Tifa answered.

"Tifa, this is Jasmine and her son Jack. Jasmine, Jack, this is Tifa. She's a friend of Cloud's who will be able to answer your question." Reno said.

"Hi Jasmine. Cloud should be along shor- no, he's back. That went quicker than I thought it would." Tifa said.

Cloud then entered the bar taking notice of the Turks. He then looked at Jasmine then to Jack, and his breath caught in his throat as he took in the silver hair.

"Who are you?" Cloud asked, turning his attention back to Jasmine.

"Jasmine. I'm just here for some answers, is all." she answered.

"I'm sorry but we have to leave you Jasmine. Duty calls." Rude said.

"We'll see you again soon." Reno said.

Jasmine gave the two Turks a small smile as they exited the bar. Her attention was brought back to Cloud as he spoke again.

"How can I help you?"

"I need to know. What happened to Sephiroth?" Jasmine said.

Cloud's eyes widened a bit and his breathing became unsteady. He silently thanked the timing the kids had as they came into the bar.

"We're back from the park." the boy announced as he walked in with a girl.

"Denzel, Marlene this is Jasmine and Jack. Will you take Jack upstairs and keep him company while we talk to Jasmine?" Tifa said.

"Sure. Come on." Marlene said.

Jack looked to his mother, silently asking for permission. She gave him a small smile and a nod. He smiled as he followed the two kids upstairs. Cloud turned his attention back to Jasmine as soon as the kids were out of sight.

"What do you want with Sephiroth?"

"I know you noticed Cloud. He looks like him. Sephiroth is Jack's father." Jasmine said.

"And that's what happened. I killed Sephiroth and meteor destroy Midgar." Cloud said.

"I see." Jasmine quietly said.

"What is your connection to Sephiroth?" Tifa asked.

"Yes. How is it you know him?" Cloud asked.

"It all started nine years ago." Jasmine began.

_A/N: I'm going to be evil and stop there. I know, I hate cliff hangers too, but I don't want to start Jasmine's story yet. I want to start it in the next chapter. I will try to update tomorrow, but there is another test I need to study for. I will try to update after I study and before my night class, but we'll see how tomorrow goes. R&R! P.S. I'm not going to have Cloud explain FF7. If you want to know more, either look it up or play the game._


	3. Chapter 2

_I got the stuff that I needed to get done, done. I have some time before my night class, so I'm going to go ahead and update the story. Now it's going to flashback, where the gist of the story takes place. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 2

"She's only eighteen and already in the higher ups in this department."

"I know. Did you know she developed the program that keeps our computers safe from the viruses?"

"No way."

"Don't you two have something better to do than whisper about me back there?" Jasmine asked the two men.

"Yes, ma'am. Sorry." The two men said in unison before hurrying to their computers to work.

Jasmine sighed as she turned back to her monitor to continue her work. That sort of thing seemed to happen to her everyday, especially when they got new employees in the computers department who were older than her. She couldn't exactly say that she was used to that sort of thing, but she didn't let it bother her to much. It was true what they had said. She was only eighteen and almost to the top of the ladder in that department. She was sixteen when she showed her skills with a computer to President Shinra and was hired almost on the spot. She had just finished her latest report of a virus that was used to try to destroy another part of Shinra's data before leaving for the night.

'I don't know why AVALANCHE just doesn't give up. They're never going to be able to get rid of Shinra.' She thought to herself as she walked down the hall to her apartment in Shinra. When she got hired at sixteen, she didn't have anywhere to go. Shinra allowed her to live in the building and took a small sum from her paycheck as a rent fee.

She walked into her apartment and locked the door behind her. She turned on lights as she went through to the kitchen. She decided to fry up a few pieces of chicken since she was too tired to cook a big meal that night. She felt something brush up against her legs as she started to put the chicken into the hot grease. She looked down at her Maine Coon as she continued to rub up against her legs.

"Hi Patches. I know, your hungry too, but this is my dinner. Let me get the rest of the chicken in then I'll feed you." Jasmine said as she put in the last pieces of chicken. Patches meowed as she watched her master finish putting in the chicken then get her dish out. She meowed again as Jasmine put the dish of cat food on the floor for her.

Jasmine watched the latest news about the attacks that AVALANCHE had done recently while she ate her meal. The group had really started to get violent in the past month and it scared her a little. She was thankful that she had taken lessons in the martial arts when she was little, so she could defend herself if the time called for it.

'What they have been trying to do with the computer viruses lately is mere child's play. They'll have to try harder than what they have been doing in order to get past me.' she thought as she finished eating. Patches curled up in her lap as she continued to watch the news. When they got done with the weather and moved onto sports she decided to call it a night and turn in. As usual Patches followed her to bed.

"I better not lose any of my precious data that I have stored in there."

"You won't professor, I can assure you." Jasmine said as she typed away at the computer. She had been called by Hojo that morning to come in and get rid of a virus that had gotten onto his computer again. She had told him several times that if something popped up on his computer that sounded too good to be true, then it was. She swore that man never listened to her and always argued that he was right, never wrong.

"There, all finished. The virus is gone and your data is intact, like I said that it would be." Jasmine said as she stood up.

"Your work is efficient, which is one of the reasons why Shinra keeps you, but you can work to slowly. Next time I want you to do this efficiently and quickly." Hojo said as he sat down at his computer.

"If you actually listened to me and protected your computer better there wouldn't be a next time." she muttered as she exited the room and walked down the hall.

It was almost 11:30 and she decided to catch an early lunch before heading back to the computer department. She went to the elevator and pressed the down button. Once she stepped on she pressed the button that would take her to the right floor where the cafeteria was located. She liked it when she caught an early lunch like this. It usually meant that the cafeteria would most likely be almost empty and there would be more to choose from.

On this particular day, it was empty except for three men that were at the far end of the room. She could tell by looking at them that they were SOLDIER first class. She had seen them around and heard about them, but she didn't know them personally. She settled on pasta, a couple of dinner rolls and milk that day. She sat down after paying for it and she heard one of the men reading from a book he had. She could hear him clearly from across the room since the place was deserted.

"The most profound mystery is the Gift of the Goddess and in pursuit of this gift we set on a journey and take flight. Hopeless as it may seem we stand and carry onward with the ripples of the water that surface on our hearts." the man with the brown hair read.

"Will there ever be anything else, besides Loveless, that you will read Genesis?" the man with silver hair asked.

"You will never understand the beauty of the play with that attitude Sephiroth."

"I'm inclined to agree with Sephiroth. You really need to find something else to read once in a while Genesis." The man with black hair said.

"Why do you partner up against me Angeal? Your life long friend." Genesis said.

"You've beaten that play into my head since you found that book in your parents' library. It can get old." Angeal replied.

Jasmine blocked out the rest of the conversation since the two men, Angeal and Genesis, started to playfully argue. She remembered the first time she read Loveless and she liked it, but it was difficult for her to grasp. She threw away her trash in the garbage bin that was near the three SOLDIERs, since it was the only one in there at that time in the day. She briefly met eyes with the one they called Sephiroth. She gave him a small smile before quickly leaving the cafeteria.

_A/N: I'm going to go ahead and leave it there since I have to leave pretty soon, and I want to eat something before I have to go. It's easier to concentrate on class when you have a full stomach, instead of an empty one. A note, if you haven't played the game Crisis Core, the name of the man with black hair is pronounced an-gee-al. Anyway, hope you enjoyed and R&R!_


	4. Chapter 3

_It's official. I'm addicted to Investigation Discovery. That's what I've been watching instead of writing today, and I apologize for that. Those of you who have a show that you love understand. Enough of the babbling and excuses, on with the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 3

'What is wrong with me? I can't believe I did that. He is so out of my league. It's been so long since I've been with a boy and he is cute. Dah! Jasmine, stop! You're working on climbing up the ladder in the department. You really don't need a boyfriend right now anyway.' Her thoughts screeched to a halt as she walked into the room of the department she worked in.

"Jasmine, major crisis!"

"What did you do now Reno?" she asked as she sat down at her computer. There was a virus downloading on it.

"I didn't do anything. It just popped up while I was waiting for you." Reno answered.

"Viruses just don't magically pop up." she said as she started to type and get rid of the virus.

"Well this one did. I didn't even touch the computer." Reno said. "I know how you get when I mess with a computer, especially when it's yours."

"If what you say is true, then their trying something different. Sending a virus through the network to target a random computer and destroy the data within it." Jasmine said.

She continued to work on stopping the virus and Reno watched her as she typed away at her computer. He had planned on taking her out to a friendly lunch, but that would have to wait for now. He was always impressed when she was able to stop the virus that was used by AVALANCHE on Shinra's computers.

"Failed again, this data isn't going anywhere." Jasmine said.

That was when the other computers started beeping in the room. The people started to frantically type at them. Reno looked around the room at the people as they typed then looked at Jasmine. She sat there stunned looking at the flashing of the computer monitors and the people trying to stop the viruses on their computers.

"Oh, shit." Reno said as he looked back at the others.

"Reno, I need to get to one of the main computers now." Jasmine said as she stood up and ran towards the door.

Reno was right behind her as she ran down the hall. She needed him for the clearance to go to that particular lab. There were only a few computers there, but it held data for the entire company. She knew that if the computers throughout the building were acting up, she needed to go to that computer lab and use one of the computers to stop the virus. When they got to the door, Reno swiped his card and they ran in. Jasmine ran to one of the computers and started working on stopping the virus.

"Has the virus been stopped?" Mr. Clark asked.

"Yes, for the computers in the building. The virus is still continuing somewhere else though." Jasmine said to her subordinate.

"You mean in the computer lab that is not located within the Shinra building?" he asked.

"Yes. I theorize that either one of our own turned against us that were working there, or members of AVALANCHE infiltrated the place and set the virus on the computers there. I will need to go there and get rid of the rest of the virus there." Jasmine explained.

"How did it start to attack the rest of the computers here?" Mr. Clark asked.

"I think it was sent to randomly attack one computer. When that was stopped it set off a whole set of viruses to attack the rest of the computers. Pretty clever, but once I get to the computer lab that is outside of the building I'll be able to stop it fully." she explained.

"Good work Jasmine. You worked almost all night, go home and rest. You'll need it in order to get rid of the virus properly."

"Thank you Mr. Clark." Jasmine turned and left the room.

"Well?" Reno asked as she walked out.

"I'm going home to rest. I'll be going to check out the computer lab that operates outside of the building. I'll probably be leaving some time tomorrow." Jasmine said with a yawn.

"Maybe I'll be one of the Turks to escort you there." Reno said.

"I hope so. That would be fun." Jasmine replied.

Jasmine got a call on her PHS the next morning by Mr. Clark. He wanted her to come to his office instead of going to the computer lab where she usually worked. He wanted to discuss the strategy for checking out the computer lab that she was going to later that day. When she entered the room, there was another man there with blonde hair.

"Jasmine, this is Lazard." Mr. Clark said as she walked in. "Lazard, this is Jasmine."

"So you're our miracle who works in the computers department. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Lazard said as he shook her hand.

"Lazard, director of SOLDIER. Why are you here?" Jasmine asked. "This matter is about the computers, I don't understand."

"We are sending our best three first class SOLDIERs to escort you there. You'll need the protection I'm sure." Lazard explained.

"I'm sure there is a better way for them to occupy their time. I'm sure a couple of the Turks could do just as good a job of protecting me as SOLDIER could." Jasmine said.

"I'm sure you're aware that AVALANCHE is getting more violent. I'm sure the Turks could do a good job of protecting you Jasmine, but we don't want to take the risk of you either getting kidnapped or killed. SOLDIER will escort you there and back." Mr. Clark said.

"Understood sir." Jasmine sighed.

"They will be waiting for you at the helicopter pad up top. Make sure your ready to go." Lazard said.

'I'm sure they could use those guys better than protecting me. I'm sure Reno and Rude would do just as good a job as they would. They may be busy with other things if they're using SOLDIER to protect me. Either that, or AVALANCHE has gotten a lot more violent than they have let the public know.' Jasmine thought as she made sure she had everything she would need for the trip to the lab.

_A/N: I'm going to be evil again and leave it there. It's starting to get late and I'll need my rest for my test tomorrow. My night class shouldn't run as long for me since we're taking a test and I may be able to update again afterwards. I won't try to beforehand since I'll need that time to study. Anyway, R&R!_


	5. Chapter 4

_First off, I want to correct a little mistake that I made. Clark is her superior, not her subordinate. I was thinking superior and it came out as subordinate and I apologize for the confusion. Also sorry for not updating last night like I said that I would, but I was tired after my test and I didn't feel like writing. I also had a writers block for this chapter, but I don't now, so on with the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 4

"We've been waiting for ten minutes. You would think that if this was important that we would have left right away." Genesis said as he began to pace.

"I'm sure she'll be here soon." Sephiroth replied as he leaned against the helicopter with Angeal.

He looked up as he heard the door to the helicopter pad open. He raised an eyebrow slightly when he saw a young woman walk out onto the pad. He didn't recognize her right away due to her clothes. Instead of wearing the blouse, black dress pants and high heels she was wearing a light blue shirt, black jeans and mid calf high boots. He was slightly relieved that she was more properly dressed for this mission instead of dressing nice and expecting to keep her outfit clean.

"Why does she look so familiar?" Angeal asked.

"She's the same person who came into the cafeteria a few days ago." Sephiroth answered.

"You're a bit young for this mission aren't you?" Genesis asked as she approached them.

"True, I'm young but I'm mature enough for this mission." Jasmine answered.

"Do you even know how to run the program?" Angeal asked. "I heard that it can be quite complicated if it's not applied correctly."

"Of course I do. I developed that program." Jasmine said. She laughed at their shocked expressions. "What's wrong? Expect someone older to develop that program?"

"No, of course not." Angeal answered.

"Anyway, lets get going. The longer we stand around talking, the more there is a chance that the virus will get back into the computers here." Jasmine said as she walked past them and entered the helicopter.

"I agree." Sephiroth said.

"I'm sorry that you guys have to be dragged all the way out here just to protect me. I'm sure the Turks could have done just as good a job." Jasmine said during the helicopter ride.

"Don't apologize." Angeal replied.

"The Turks are busy protecting the President during his travels right now." Sephiroth added.

'No wonder I haven't seen Reno and Rude around lately.' Jasmine thought to herself. She continued to watch outside the window, but was slightly surprised when they landed outside a wooded area.

"Let's go." Genesis said as he exited the helicopter.

"We'll stay here with the helicopter sirs." one of the infantrymen said.

Sephiroth nodded to them then turned to Jasmine. "Don't fall behind."

"Don't worry, I won't slow you down." Jasmine said as she fell in step beside him.

They didn't stick to the main path to the lab. They took different turns as they went through the wooded area. They kept it up so as to "shake off any followers," as Sephiroth explained. She understood, and she didn't mind. She loved hiking through wooded areas, such as this. She just wished she could do it more often.

"I'm kind of surprised that you're able to keep up." Genesis said looking back at Jasmine.

"Well, I'm not exactly a city girl." Jasmine replied.

"You didn't grow up in the city of Midgar?" Angeal asked.

"No. I didn't move to Midgar until a few years ago. I was fifteen then." Jasmine answered. Everybody stopped and looked at her.

"You're only eighteen?" Sephiroth asked.

"Don't be so surprised. I'm sick of getting that all the time." Jasmine said as she walked past everyone. "Come on, let's go."

They finally made it to the lab. From the outside it looked like a mako reactor. It didn't surprise Jasmine and she didn't ask questions about it. She understood that this lab was a secretive place and it was disguised as a reactor to keep civilians out of it. When they entered the place it was deserted. There was nobody around in the hallways or managing the computers. Jasmine walked over to one of the computers and started working on getting rid of the virus, after she popped in a disc.

"Is that the program?" Genesis asked, as he walked over to watch her work.

"Mm-hm. As I work on getting rid of the virus, it reads it. This program is a database of all the viruses that has infiltrated the computer systems. Once it reads the virus it will be able to stop this same virus from getting into the computers again. Once I get this program back to the Shinra building and upload it into the main database, this virus won't be able to do anything because this program now knows it. Think of it as a very high tech security system for Shinra's database." Jasmine explained.

"Quite impressive." Angeal said as he stood in the doorway with Sephiroth.

"Indeed." Sephiroth replied. "Genesis, let's leave Miss Jasmine to her work. We can wait outside and keep any members of AVALANCHE from entering the room if they show up."

"Call if you need anything." Genesis said as he walked out of the room with Sephiroth and Angeal.

"Do you really think it's wise to leave her alone in there? There is a skylight." Angeal said.

"You would have to get on the roof of this place to get to the skylight. Besides, if AVALANCHE does show up, we'll be able to get to her in time to protect her." Sephiroth replied.

That was when some soldier like people ran in and took aim with their weapons. The three first class SOLDIERs unsheathed their swords.

"Unless we become preoccupied." Genesis said.

Jasmine had finished getting rid of the virus and the program had finished analyzing it shortly after. She put the program away and then she heard glass shattering. She looked up and quickly got out of the way of the falling pieces of the skylight. Three men landed into the room surrounding her.

"SOLDIER can be so careless, leaving the one their supposed to protect alone." one of the men said.

"Doesn't mean I can't take care of myself." Jasmine replied as she took a battle stance.

"We'll see about that." another man said.

One man charged her and she was able to land a kick to his face that sent him sprawling on the floor. The next one charged her and she was able to block the punch by grabbing his hands. She sent her knee into his gut then flipped him onto his back. The third guy landed a kick into her back that sent her flying against the wall. He quickly ran up behind her and pinned her arms behind her. She was able to get a foot up against the wall and she pushed off it, causing them to step back a little. It was enough to allow Jasmine to run up the wall and flip herself behind the man. She then landed a kick to his back causing him to hit the wall hard and fall to the ground.

She turned in time to land another kick in the head to a guy but the other one was able to land a blow to her face, splitting her lip. She retaliated by kicking him in the gut then did a spinning kick to his head. That was when Angeal, Sephiroth and Genesis came running into the room with their weapons drawn. They quickly lowered them when they saw that Jasmine was the only one standing.

"Are you alright?" Sephiroth asked.

"Just a split lip. Nothing to worry about." Jasmine answered as she wiped the blood away with the back of her hand. She then took out the lacquered chopsticks out of her black hair, causing it to fall.

"Did you get everything done?" Genesis asked.

"Yeah, everything is done." Jasmine said.

"Then let's get out of here." Angeal said.

"What about the people who were supposed to still be working here? Shouldn't we look for them?" Jasmine asked as they ran down the halls to leave the building.

"It'll get investigated later. Keep going." Sephiroth answered.

They were able to make it back to the helicopter and take off without incident. They spent the ride back to the Shinra building in silence. Sephiroth was a little impressed that Jasmine was able to take care of herself and decided to talk to Director Lazard about it.

_A/N: I think that fighting scene went a little better than the ones in my first fic. Hopefully they will continue to be that good, lol. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and reviews would be appreciated. You don't have to, but R&R!_


	6. Chapter 5

_I decided to update with another chapter tonight before going to bed. I don't have class tomorrow, so I can stay up a little late and it won't come back to haunt me in the morning. Anyway enough of that read the chapter already, lol. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 5

Jasmine quickly made her way towards the lab that held the main computers. She knew that she had to get the program to the main database so the computers would be safe from this virus. She was grateful that she ran into Reno and Rude at the entrance to the lab since they had security clearance when she didn't.

"Need this?" Reno asked, holding up his card and giving her a smile.

"What do you think dipshit?" Jasmine retaliated, also giving a smile.

"Open the door already Reno." Rude said.

"Okay, okay." Reno said then swiped his card, opening the door.

Jasmine walked to one of the computers and put the disc in. It took a half hour to fully load the new information, but once it was done she breathed a sigh of relief. Her work for the day was done, and she was relieved that she could now relax.

"Good work Jaz. What are your plans for the rest of the day?" Reno said.

"Home, eat, shower and rest." Jasmine said standing up.

"After you get checked for any injuries."

Jasmine turned to the new voice in the doorway. "Sephiroth? I told you it's just a split lip, and it's nothing to worry about."

"Hollander would rather you be safe than sorry. Let's go." Sephiroth said.

It turned out that there were some bruises on her back and one of her wrists were sprained from when she was grabbed. She wouldn't be able to work without having some pain in her wrist. She wasn't happy about that, but she couldn't convince Hollander that she would fine. He had given her superior, Mr. Clark, a call telling him that she would have to take it easy for a couple of days.

"Anything serious?" Reno asked. He was waiting outside of the infirmary with Rude.

"No. Just some bruises and a sprain to go with my split lip. I won't be able to work without some pain, due to my sprain for a couple of days. Other than that I'm fine." She said then looked around. "I was hoping that Sephiroth would still be here. I wanted to thank him and have him tell the other two thanks for escorting me out there."

"I'll be sure to tell them for you. I'm sure I'll run into them sooner than you would." Reno said.

"Thanks Reno, I would appreciate that." Jasmine replied.

A few days later she returned to work and she was glad to be back. She had been bored for the past few days, but she was glad that she had taken those few days off. She had more pain than she had thought she would have. Patches had kept her company for a while those few days, but then she would go back to being a cat and go do what she wanted. About a week after the mission she had gone on, she got a call from her superior one morning saying that he wanted to see her. She entered Mr. Clark's office to see that Director Lazard was also there.

"What is it now?" Jasmine asked, showing her curiosity.

"It's a good thing this time. You may be eligible for either the Turks or SOLDIER. To figure this out, you're going to have a match against Reno and Rude. That shouldn't be a problem for someone who was able to take on three people single handedly." Lazard said.

"That's the thing there were only three people there that time." Jasmine said.

"I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit." Lazard replied.

"Alright, when do you want this match?" Jasmine sighed.

"Would tomorrow be too early?" Lazard asked.

"No, that is enough time for me to prepare." Jasmine answered.

Jasmine entered the training quarters of the Turks. She had matches with Reno and Rude several times and enjoyed it. Each one was different and that's why she enjoyed it so much. Just because she was getting assessed this time wasn't going to spoil her fun with them.

"Look who finally decided to show up. I don't understand why you always put your hair up. It's only going to get messed up." Reno said as she entered and stood before them.

"Your right." she said taking the chop sticks out that were holding her hair in place. She looked at them for a brief moment before throwing them at Reno.

"Whoa!" he yelled as he dodged them.

She charged Rude and threw a punch at him, but he was able to jump back and avoid the contact. He tried to land a kick at her, but she blocked it with her lower arm. Reno came at her from the side and she tried to kick him. He grabbed her foot, stopping her attack. She jumped a little and spun kicking him off her, causing him to take a few steps back. Rude came in to punch her, but she back flipped in order to avoid his attack.

Reno came back at her with his electric rod in hand. She stepped to the side enough to dodge the blow and she quickly grabbed the wrist that was holding his weapon. She kneed him in the gut and flipped him onto his back. She did a spinning kick just as Rude came at her. She continued to attack him with punches and kicks, but he was able to block them, causing them both to make their way across the room. She heard Reno coming at her from behind and she quickly cart wheeled out of the way, causing Reno to collide with Rude. They both fell to the floor and Jasmine's laughter filled the room.

"Alright, that's enough."

Jasmine looked to the doorway to see Tseng standing there. "Aw come on we were having fun." she playfully whined.

"I know, but Lazard and Heidegger have seen enough to make their assessment and they don't want any of you to get hurt for any unnecessary reason." Tseng replied.

"Well, we'll just have to finish this some other time." Reno said getting up with Rude.

"Yeah." Jasmine replied as she picked up her chop sticks that she had thrown earlier. She put her hair back up and headed to the computer lab to work for the remainder of the day.

_A/N: I like the outcome of that fighting scene too. I guess I'm starting to get the hang of this, huh? In the next chapter you will find out if she makes it to the Turks or SOLDIER, so in the meantime stay tuned. I have some homework to catch up on tomorrow, but I'll try to update before I have to go to work. R&R!_


	7. Chapter 6

_I got enough homework done for the day, so I can update with another chapter today. I have quite some time before I have to go to work, so hopefully I can get a couple of chapters up. Anyway, enjoy the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 6

It had been a few days since she had her assessing match with Reno and Rude. She hadn't heard from anybody who was in charge of the Turks or SOLDIER, and she couldn't decide if that meant that they couldn't decide on where to put her or if they decided they really didn't need her in either department. She really didn't mind that she wouldn't be hired in either department. She was happy where she was, although she would like working with Reno and Rude.

'It can get lonely sometimes when they are gone on their own missions. Don't get me wrong, I do like hanging out with Tseng, but he gets really busy sometimes since he became the head of the Turks.' she thought to herself as she typed at her computer.

She had been working on an idea for a new program, and she was working on making that program. She was sure that this program may get her up to the next step up the ladder and she would finally have the security clearance for the lab for the main computers. Once she had that she wouldn't have to bother Reno or Rude for their clearance whenever she needed to go in there. Her thoughts were halted by her PHS ringing. She answered expecting it to be her superior, but was surprised when it wasn't.

"You're needed in Director Lazard's office."

"Sephiroth?" Jasmine asked. The only answer she got was him hanging up on her.

She hung up, saved her work, and got up from her chair. She hung her lab coat on the rack as she walked out the door. She walked to the elevator and got on. She pressed the button that would take her to the floor that Lazard's office was on. She walked in to find Lazard was at his desk and Sephiroth was in there reading a file. He glanced up when he heard the clicking of the heels to the shoes she was wearing.

"Jasmine, it's nice to see you again." Lazard said standing up.

"Director." she replied as she shook his hand.

"You gave us a lot to think about after your assessment Jasmine. After a lot of deliberation, we decided that you would be better put to use as SOLDIER. We believe that once you have the skills to use a sword you will be a great ally to Shinra. Tseng already has some skills with a computer, so we don't need another person with those skills in the Turks department. Once you're trained in SOLDIER, you'll be able to go on missions, like the one you went on a week ago, by yourself and not need the extra protection." Lazard explained.

"Uh-huh." was Jasmine's reply.

"Of course it's up to you. You don't need to become a part of this department if you don't want to." Sephiroth said, not looking up from the file he was reading.

"I'm working on developing a new program. How am I supposed to be in SOLDIER and work in the computers department?" Jasmine asked.

"Heidegger and I already spoke to Clark and President Shinra. They said they are willing to balance out your work schedule so you don't become overworked or over stressed between the two departments." Lazard answered.

"Before you make your decision, you need to understand that you will have other duties if you decide to join this department. That includes escorting people and protecting the president." Sephiroth said placing the file on the table next to him.

"You will also help out in investigations, like the one that is taking place now in the lab you visited." Lazard added.

"What did happen to the people who were working there?" Jasmine asked.

"They were killed, taken into the biggest room in that place and shot to death." Sephiroth said. "We still don't know who was involved in the killing."

They both watched her reaction. She was obviously upset and shocked by it. Sephiroth was impressed when she didn't break down crying at the information.

"Do you think you would be able to handle that kind of thing?" Lazard asked.

Jasmine thought for a moment, absorbing all of the information that was given to her. She gave a nod to Lazard. "Yeah, I'll be able to handle that kind of work."

"You won't be able to apprentice with Angeal because he already has an apprentice and Genesis is helping with the investigation with the computer lab. That leaves you to apprentice with Sephiroth." Lazard said.

Jasmine nodded then looked to Sephiroth. "When do you want to start training?"

"Not for a few days. Make sure your ready for a lot of physical training." Sephiroth answered.

Jasmine nodded. "Director, Sephiroth." She said then left the room.

"So your officially apart of SOLDIER?" Reno asked.

"Yep." Jasmine answered as she took another bite of her steak. She had run into Reno at her door when she headed home. She had invited him inside for dinner since they hadn't seen much of each other for a while. "Where's Rude?"

"Helping Cissnei in the investigation of the lab, along with Genesis." Reno answered. "Anyway, I think this is a cause for a celebration."

"Let's celebrate once I become first class in SOLDIER, or get that promotion in the computer department." Jasmine replied.

"Fine." Reno sighed. "By the way, how is your new program coming along?"

"Still a few glitches in the system, but once I get those smoothed out I'll be able to run the program without any problems." Jasmine answered.

"Just don't work yourself to death just to get to the next level. Your still young and have enough time for that. Don't rush." Reno said.

"I'm not, I just-"

"Work hard. To hard for your own good Jasmine. Slow down and enjoy life a little. Your young and have time. If you revolve your life around work you'll never live life to the fullest like you should." Reno said.

"Right. I'll try." Jasmine replied, giving her friend a smile.

_A/N: This chapter took longer to write due to distractions and writers block. I really hate it when that happens. Anyway, I don't have time to update with another chapter before work. I'll get another chapter up tomorrow afternoon, after I go Halloween shopping :) R&R!_


	8. Chapter 7

_Sorry for not updating yesterday, but I got home later than planned and I didn't have time to update a new chapter before work. Here is the next chapter, enjoy. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title. _

Chapter 7

A few days later, Jasmine got a call from Sephiroth to meet him in the company training room on the SOLDIER floor. He wanted to go over her strengths as well as pin down her weaknesses that she had. He also wanted to get the right sword for her, custom made if it came down to it. He was waiting for her in the training room when she arrived. She was wearing what she had before on the mission. The only difference was that her hair was in a pony tail.

"You're late." he said as she walked in.

"I apologize. My help was needed in the computer lab before I came here." Jasmine said.

"I'll tolerate that, but I won't accept any other excuses." Sephiroth replied.

She nodded. "What are we going to do today?"

"First, what is your greatest strength?" Sephiroth asked.

Jasmine thought for a moment. "I would have to say dodging. Beside's the martial arts my greatest strength is dodging."

"Would you be willing to prove that?" Sephiroth asked.

He took out his PHS and started hitting buttons on it when Jasmine nodded. The virtual reality started up around them. It was open with trees and a group of virtual kids with rubber balls. She understood immediately what she was supposed to do.

"You may use the trees as a barrier between you and the balls thrown at you. Your mission is to dodge as many balls as you can."

No sooner had he said that, she ducked in time to avoid a ball from hitting her in the face. The virtual kids didn't waste time on throwing them at her. She ducked and jumped to avoid the balls as she ran for one of the trees. She jumped over a ball as she did a rolling summer salt behind a tree. No sooner had she gotten behind the tree the kids surrounded her and started to throw the balls at her again. She jumped into the tree to avoid them, but fell right back down onto the floor as the virtual reality scene disintegrated around them.

"You thought quickly, but efficiently and was able to make a quick decision in the end. That is a key trait that we look for in SOLDIER." Sephiroth said approaching her.

"You have to think quickly and efficiently and make quick decisions where I work. Especially when you're dealing with a virus." Jasmine replied as she got up.

"Out of curiosity, what would you have done if you got into that tree?" he asked.

"I would have climbed up high enough to use the branches for cover and jump to the other side of the tree and make my escape." Jasmine answered. "You would have seen it had you not stopped the simulation."

"Sounds like a good plan on its face, but would you have been able to land in a way that you wouldn't hurt yourself? If you get yourself hurt and is unable to get away or get yourself killed, then you'll be no good to us." Sephiroth said.

"I learned the hard way years ago. After several sprains and a few broken bones, I now know how to land in a way as not to hurt myself." Jasmine answered.

Sephiroth nodded once at her explanation. "I think your biggest weakness right now is you don't know how to use a sword. You know the martial arts, which is a start, but we need to get you a weapon." He pointed over to a few swords that were leaning against the wall. "There are some samples over there. Handle them and decide on how you like the handle and what weight you will be able to handle."

The heaviest one, she knew she wouldn't be able to handle for long periods of time. She didn't like how the lighter one felt weight wise and the handle didn't feel right to her. The last one the handle felt right, but the sword itself was heavier. It was a weight that she knew she would be able to handle and showed Sephiroth her decision. He walked over and took the sword, feeling the weight.

"Excellent choice. For an FYI later, when you get stronger, the heavier the sword the stronger it can be. It can also work against you if the weight is too much for you to handle. The lighter the sword, the weaker the blade can be, but it also depends on what type of metal the sword was made out of. Before I let you go, so I can think about your first lesson, do you know anything about a sword?" Sephiroth said.

"I only really know two things. The closer to the hilt the blade will be stronger, and that part of the blade you use for defense. The farther away from the hilt is the weaker part of the blade and you use that for attacking. That is all I was taught by my cousin before he left." Jasmine explained.

"You mean you were going to learn before?" Sephiroth asked.

She nodded. "My cousin knew how to fight with a sword and he was going to teach me how to use it. He died in a fight and I never got to learn how to use one from him. That was around ten years ago though."

"Go ahead and go home. If you're satisfied with this sword go ahead and take it with you. Clean it and get used to the weight. I'll give you a call to let you know about your next training day." Sephiroth said handing her the sword. She nodded and left the training room.

She did as she was told when she got home. She cleaned her sword till it shined. She knew she probably didn't need to clean it that much, but she wanted it to look good. She also continued to handle it until she got used to the weight. She leaned it in a corner of the living room so it wouldn't fall over very easily and so Patches wouldn't be able to knock it over easily. She was wondering how she was going to carry it everywhere and decided to ask Sephiroth the next time she saw him. She didn't get a chance to wonder for long when there was a knock on her door.

"Hey Reno, come on in."

"Hi. How did your first day of training as SOLDIER go?" Reno asked as he walked in.

"I think it went pretty well. I didn't learn how to use that yet, but I'm sure I'll start learning the next day of training." Jasmine answered pointing to the sword in the corner.

"Jeez, did you clean it enough?" Reno asked as he sat down on the couch. Patches leapt into his lap, settled down and started purring.

"You are a purring machine every time Reno comes over." Jasmine said as she sat down next to him and started scratching her head. "You must emanate more heat that she likes or something."

"Apparently." Reno replied as he stroked her. "Did you ever get her declawed?"

"No. I've got little caps for her claws. They go over her nails so she won't' be able to claw anything, or anyone." She maneuvered one of her paws so one of her claws popped out to show him the little plastic that fit over it. "I don't want her declawed, I told you that already."

"Did you want to go out to an arcade or something tonight?" Reno asked.

"I've got to go to work in the morning Reno. Maybe another day, after one of my training days perhaps." Jasmine answered.

"So do I and it doesn't stop me from having fun." he replied.

"I'll need my energy tomorrow Reno. I'm going to show my findings on the project that I'm working on." she said.

"Alright, but I'm going to take you out soon and teach you how to have fun. Even Sephiroth will get out and have fun once in a while." Reno replied.

Reno left after a couple of hours of watching television. Jasmine showered and went to bed shortly after.

_A/N: Not much for a first day of training, I know but I'll try to make it more interesting in later chapters. I know nothing about swords, so any of you sword specialists out there please don't flame me. I read my first negative review today and I ask you positive reviewers not to flame them. They are just stating their opinions. I can assure you that it will not stop me from updating and making more stories. R&R!_


	9. Chapter 8

_I'm back with another chapter. I had a little writer's block but I think I've got it figured out now. Again, please don't flame negative reviews. They are just stating their opinion and they will not be deleted. However, I will not tolerate any arguments that start up in my reviews of my stories. Those will be deleted whenever I see them. Enough of that, on with the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 8

Jasmine walked down the hallway away from the lab. She wasn't exactly happy. The result of her evaluation on her project wasn't exactly great. Reno was the only one who would approach her "don't fuck with me" aura that was radiating off of her as she sat in the cafeteria.

"Gee, we look so happy."

"Don't start with me Reno." Jasmine said as he sat down across from her.

"I'm guessing your evaluation didn't go as well as you planned, huh?" Reno asked.

"What tipped you off Sherlock?"

"Come on Jasmine. There's always the next evaluation." Reno said.

"By that time Shinra will have taken interest in someone else's project." Jasmine replied.

"You don't know that. You just have to figure something out about your project." Reno said.

Jasmine was about to reply when her PHS went off. "Let me change and I'll be on my way."

"Sephiroth want you to train?" Reno asked.

"Yeah, I'll see you later." Jasmine said as she stood up.

Sephiroth had given her the basics of fighting with a sword. He used the virtual reality of the training room to give her something easier to fight to start off. He knew that she wouldn't be able to fight him, since he was much more experienced than she was. The only time he interfered was to correct her fighting skills before she developed it further and it became a problem.

Jasmine followed instructions and threw herself into her training. It took her mind off the anger she felt that morning. Sephiroth watched on as she trained, taking note of how much progress she had made that day. He also noted how well she followed the instructions he gave her during the day. He wasn't expecting much for the first day, but couldn't deny that he was impressed.

"That's enough for today." Sephiroth said as he stopped the virtual reality of the training room. "You don't need to drain all of your energy."

Jasmine caught her breath then turned to her trainer. "How am I supposed to carry this sword around everywhere?"

"I have a second class SOLDIER uniform for you as well as a holster to carry it in. You'll just have to adjust the straps so it fits comfortably on your back." Sephiroth explained as he handed her the uniform and holster. "Go home and get some rest."

Jasmine nodded as she took the clothes and holster from Sephiroth. As she left the training room she passed a young man with brown hair and wearing a red coat. She knew that he was Genesis but decided not to bother him about the investigation. She would bother Rude about that the next time she saw him.

It had been a couple of days since the last time she had trained. She had been needed in the lab to get rid of a couple of viruses. Since she had time to work on that, she was also able to work on her project. There were still some kinks in it that she had to figure out. As she looked at the files on her program a thought struck her. She had to look at the virtual reality in the training room. She saw that it was preoccupied by Sephiroth and Genesis. It seemed to her that they were having a bit of a play fight in one of the virtual realities.

'Reno was right. Sephiroth does have more fun than I do. I'm really going to have to get out and have fun more often.' she thought to herself as she continued to watch the two. She decided to leave before they finished up and saw that they were being watched. She ran into Reno on her way back to the lab.

"Hey, how about lunch with me and Rude. It's nearly one and I'm sure you haven't eaten yet, knowing the workaholic that you are." he said.

"Sure, why not." she replied.

She enjoyed her time with Reno and Rude as they had lunch together. The case had been closed as an AVALANCHE attack. It was impossible to tell who and all was involved to make any arrests. Nobody was happy about that, but there wasn't enough evidence to tie any members of the rebel group to arrest any of them.

"So what were you doing on the SOLDIER floor?" Rude asked.

"I have a theory for my program and I needed to have a look at the virtual reality in the training room." Jasmine answered.

"Are you going to elaborate?" Reno asked.

"Well, I got to thinking. What if the network is a virtual reality in itself. I think I'll make this program so it sends an image of yourself into the network and you control it from a terminal. It will make searching for information easier and more efficient." Jasmine explained.

"So you figured out your kink, huh?" Reno said.

"Yeah. So since I have that figured out, I think I'll take you up on your offer about getting out and having fun." Jasmine said.

"Alright, I'll come pick you up on Friday." Reno said.

For once, Jasmine wasn't cursing Reno for keeping her out so late. Sephiroth had decided to train the next morning. She was a little tired, but she didn't regret staying out so late at the arcade with Reno the night before. She was a little surprised when Sephiroth stopped training earlier than usual that day.

"I think that's enough for today. Before you leave, I have a question for you." he said.

"Go ahead." Jasmine responded, putting her sword into the holster on her back.

"Why were you watching me and Genesis the other day?" Sephiroth asked.

"I didn't realize you saw me. I came here to have a look at the virtual reality. I had a theory and I wanted to check on it and I needed to see the virtual reality. I didn't expect the training room to be used by you and Genesis and I'm sorry that I disturbed you a few days ago." explained Jasmine.

"For your program?" Sephiroth asked.

"Yeah. I think that I have it figured out." Jasmine didn't get to elaborate further. Genesis walked in at that time.

"So it really is true. Shinra gave you an apprentice." Genesis said as he walked in.

"Genesis." Jasmine said. "It's been a while. I'm sorry that the case was closed like it was."

"Yeah, we all are." Genesis said, giving her a small smile. "I guess I won't be able to see how your training is coming along."

"If you want to know, then you can check out the recording the virtual reality creates every time she trains." Sephiroth said then turned to Jasmine. "You're free for the rest of the day after you look at your progress on the computer outside."

Jasmine walked out of the room and turned to one of the computers to check on her progress. She was surprised that she had made so much progress in such a short time. She felt that she may be able to do better and decided to squeeze some more training outside of learning from Sephiroth. She knew that she would have to reorganize her schedule so she would be able to work on her program and train.

_A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I don't know what it's called that is used by SOLDIER to carry their swords, so I'm calling a holster for now. If you know what it's called, feel free to send me a message or leave a comment in a review. I have a paper to write tomorrow, so I don't think I will get a chapter up before my night class. I do have a substitute teacher tomorrow night and if he releases us early, I may get another chapter up after class, but I can't make any promises. Stay tuned for the next chapter and R&R!_


	10. Chapter 9

_I'm back with another chapter. My substitute teacher didn't let us out early last night and by the time I got home I didn't feel like writing. I got my paper written and little advice to those of you still in school like me. Keep a copy of your papers because you may be able to reuse them in another class. That's what I did, lol. Sephiroth: *glare* Me: I don't consider it cheating! *shifts eyes, then runs* Sephiroth: Her disclaimer is she doesn't own FF7 or any of us characters. She's just borrowing them and Megz has rights to the title. *gives chase*_

Chapter 9

Jasmine continued to do her extra training in between her lessons and working in the lab. She kept an eye on her progress and saw that her attacks were fine, but she needed to develop her blocking techniques more. She had always had a little trouble with that, even when she was learning the martial arts when she was young. She was in the middle of one of her training sessions when Sephiroth entered the training room. He got her attention when he stopped the virtual reality she was using.

"I'm sorry did you need the training room?" Jasmine asked when she saw Sephiroth standing there.

"No, I came looking for you when you didn't answer your PHS." he answered.

"I'm sorry. I can make quite a bit of noise in here and it can be difficult to hear it ring." she said. "Anyway, what did you need?"

"We have a mission. We're going back to the computer lab." Sephiroth said.

"Why?"

"They're having problems collecting data on one of the computers and they need you to retrieve it. Be at the helicopter pad in twenty minutes." he said then left the room.

Jasmine quickly made her way back to the computer lab to retrieve the virus program. She wanted it just in case this was a virus of some kind and she didn't want to take any chances. She then went home and made sure that the water and food bowls for Patches was full then she made her way to the helicopter pad. She let a small smile grace her lips when she saw that Reno was giving them a ride there.

"We just look so official." Reno said as he climbed out of the helicopter with Sephiroth and Jasmine.

Sephiroth glanced at him before turning his attention back to the lab. Jasmine gave Reno a playful eye roll, then her eyes flared when she saw him put a cigarette between his lips.

"You said you quit." she said as she snatched the cigarette from his mouth.

"Yeah, after my last-" he watched in horror as she broke the cigarette in two. "one."

"Quit." She said, giving him a serious look and dropping the two halves to the ground. She turned and walked towards the lab. "Let's get this job done."

Reno pouted by his helicopter as he watched the two walk into the lab. Sephiroth led Jasmine to the room that contained the computer that was giving the employees trouble. He watched her as she worked on the computer.

"What's wrong with it?" he asked when she stopped trying to type on it.

"The computer itself is fried. I'm going to have to take it apart and take the memory pad and microchips out of it and take it back to Shinra for analysis." she replied.

"How are you going to analyze pieces? I thought you needed a whole computer to do that." Sephiroth said.

"You do. You just put the pieces back together in a computer, then you will be able to analyze it." Jasmine explained.

"How did you learn so much about computers?" Sephiroth asked as she started to take the computer apart.

"I learned on my own. I got interested in computers at a young age. When I was nine I saved enough Gil to buy my own computer and I hacked away at that for a couple of years. When I was thirteen I built my own computer from scratch and got it to run." She said looking up at Sephiroth, who was quirking an eyebrow at her. "I didn't have many friends growing up."

"Neither did I." Sephiroth said. Jasmine glanced up at him then went back to work on the computer.

"Well, did you get what we came for?" Reno asked as the two walked towards the chopper.

"In a sense." Jasmine said showing him the parts of the computer.

"What the hell?" he asked looking at the parts.

"The computers fried and I needed to get these parts out in order to analyze the data in it." Jasmine said putting the parts into the helicopter.

Reno rolled his eyes and nodded. "I don't know how you're going to do that, but I'm not computer savvy. Let's get ba-" That was when they got surrounded by a group of five people. "Oh crap."

"You were fools walk into our trap like that." One of the men said. His face couldn't be seen due to the helmet and mask that he wore.

"You're even more foolish to mess with Shinra like this." Reno said as he drew out his electric rod.

"Give it up. AVALANCHE is fighting a war they can't win." Jasmine said as she drew out her sword.

"Let's see how well you can fight with that." The man with the mask said unsheathing his own sword.

"The boss said not to engage in a battle with SOLDIER." Another man said approaching him.

The man with the mask threw him to the ground, not taking his eyes off the three. "Run if you want, but I'm staying here and fighting. You have to fight if you want to win the war we're in." The rest of them nodded in agreement and readied their weapons.

"This is your last chance. Get out of here, or suffer the consequences." Sephiroth warned as he readied his masamune.

"We'll take that chance." the man with the mask said.

Two of the men charged at them. Jasmine could tell that they were amateurs because they would stop two of the men who had guns instead of swords from shooting at her, Sephiroth and Reno. Reno ran past to engage the men with the guns while she and Sephiroth took care of the first two who charged them. The two proved to be more amateurs than she was because it didn't take long for Sephiroth or her to finish them off. Sephiroth was about to take care of the one in the mask, but got distracted by one of the gunmen. He went after him instead leaving Jasmine to deal with the one in the mask.

He charged at her but she was able to block his attack in time. She swung her sword to attack, but he blocked it by pushing it down to the ground. He then stepped on it and used it to flip himself over her, landing behind her. She was able to turn and block his sword with her own as he brought it down. She then heard a gunshot and felt pain in her left shoulder. The man in the mask then quickly put a foot to her middle and kicked off her. She flew back as he flipped himself backwards.

"Fall back!" he ordered the remaining gunman. "We'll meet again." He said pointing at Jasmine before turning and running off.

Jasmine remained on the ground clutching her shoulder and trying to catch her breath as she watched the two men disappear into the wooded area.

"Sorry, that was my fault." Reno said kneeling down next to her.

"How is it your fault? You can't keep an eye on me all the time Reno." Jasmine replied.

"It's not a through and through." Reno said as he took off his jacket to his suit. He then proceeded to tie it around her shoulder to stop the blood flow.

"I know. I can feel the bullet in there." Jasmine said.

Sephiroth helped Reno get her to her feet and into the chopper. As soon as she was in, Reno went to the front and started it. He flew as quickly as he dared, but tried to stay alert to any more of the rebel group in case they tried to shoot down the helicopter.

"I'm sorry." Jasmine said once they weren't flying over the wooded area anymore.

"For what?" Sephiroth asked.

"For getting shot and letting that one guy go." she answered.

Sephiroth moved closer to her to tighten the jacket on her shoulder. "That couldn't be helped. You did really well for your first real battle."

Jasmine looked at him as he continued to tighten the jacket. She really took in his eyes for the first time. They were a pretty blue green, but his pupils weren't normal. Instead of being round they were slits, like a cats eyes would be in light. They were a little frightening to her, but at the same time they captivated her. She didn't get to think about how pretty they were when he shifted his attention back to her.

"Thanks for tightening that." she said as she quickly looked away. She didn't get to see the smile that momentarily graced his lips.

_A/N: Finally, I lost Sephiroth somewhere. *looks at chapter* I think that's a good stopping point for this chapter. I think this went pretty well for her first mission and hopefully it will stay that way, lol. Anyway, hope you enjoyed and R&R! As for me, I'm going to hide and wait for Sephiroth so I can glomp him. He'll never expect that._


	11. Chapter 10

_I swear, I had this chapter started Friday, but I couldn't finish it in time before I had to go to work. I couldn't finish it Saturday because my older sister and brother-in-law came over to visit and I had work Sunday. Yesterday I really didn't feel like writing, but I'm here now to finish this chapter so you can finally enjoy it. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 10

"Jasmine, bear with me. I still have to get another piece out."

"Then get it out of there already!"

"I can if you'll stop squirming." Dr. Hollander replied.

"Jasmine, you have to stop moving. The more you stay still, the faster he can work." Reno said as he held her still on the table.

She cried out in pain as he dug the metal tweezers into her shoulder again. They had been at this for over an hour. The bullet had broken apart a bit when it entered her shoulder. There was the main bullet, then there were four smaller parts that had broken off of it.

"Alright. According to the x-ray, that's the last piece." Hollander said as he took the last piece of metal out of her shoulder.

"I think she did better than I did when I got my first bullet out." Reno said as he relaxed his hold on her.

"Yeah. She didn't scream like you did." Hollander replied, making Jasmine laugh.

"I'm sorry Reno." Jasmine said when she saw the glare he gave her.

"I didn't scream." Reno said through gritted teeth.

"Yes you did. Like a little girl."

They both looked to the doorway to see Tseng standing there. Jasmine was surprised to see him there. She usually didn't see much of him, especially during this time of day.

"Hi Tseng. It's been a while since I saw you last. What are you doing here?" she said.

"I heard that you had been shot and came to see if you were alright." Tseng replied as he walked in.

"Yeah, just in the shoulder." she winced as Hollander started to clean the wound. "I don't think it's something to worry about this time."

"Yeah, this time. Next time you may not be so lucky." Tseng said.

"Once I finish cleaning your wound I'm going to stitch it, then I'll give you something to put you out so you can rest." Hollander said as he continued to clean and disinfect her shoulder.

"How long will you be keeping me here?" she asked.

"Day and a half. Two days at the most." Hollander answered.

"Reno, would you mind looking after Patches?" Jasmine asked looking at him.

"Does this include cleaning out the litter box?" he asked.

She nodded and he closed his eyes and sighed. He finally agreed to look after the cat before Hollander finished stitching her up. She stopped him from giving her the shot momentarily to tell Tseng something.

"Tseng, make sure Karen doesn't use one of the company's computers to put the pieces of the computer together. Use a computer that isn't connected to the company's database. If they did put a virus in one of the computer chips, we don't want it to get into the system." she told him.

He nodded. "I will, now get some rest." he turned and left with Reno.

She settled back as they left and she finally let Hollander give her the shot. It didn't take long for it to take effect and she drifted into a deep slumber.

Jasmine was walking down the hallway towards the computer lab that she worked at. The click of her heels echoed through the empty hallway. She thought that it was weird that the hallway was empty like this. There was always someone walking down it. She turned to the door of the computer lab, opened the door and was greeted by bright sunlight. She was looking at an old town that had cobble stone streets. She saw that she was in some sort of square that had a well in the middle of it. She then saw the man with the helmet and mask that she had fought before, standing behind the well in the square staring at her. Jasmine woke up with a jerk.

She was staring at the ceiling of the infirmary of the Shinra building. She closed her eyes in order to get back in control of her breathing. She looked to the left and saw that she was being monitored by a machine, hence the reason why she had heard the beeping. She sighed and continued to survey the room making her way to the right.

"Have a bad dream?"

She jumped when she heard the voice. She looked to the right again to see a figure leaning against the wall that she swore she didn't see before. "I don't know if I can call it a bad dream. More like a weird dream." she finally answered.

Sephiroth pushed himself away from the wall and walked closer to the bed. "How do you feel?"

"A little sore." She answered. She went to stretch her left arm a little to get rid of the stiffness she felt, but found she couldn't really move it. She looked down to see that her arm was in a sling. "For crying out loud Hollander." She moved her right hand to remove the sling, but was caught.

"Don't remove it. You'll only piss him off." Sephiroth said.

Jasmine's eyes widened a little. "Did you just cuss?" she asked as she started to giggle. She had never heard him cuss before, even when he did get frustrated, which was really rare.

She thought that she saw a hint of amusement in his eyes, but didn't get a chance to ask him about it. The door to the room she was being held in opened and Reno walked in.

"You do not have a cat! You have a fucking lion!"

"You let the litter box go, didn't you?" she asked with an amused smile.

"That's not the point!" he yelled.

"You let it go, it gets full, and then you have a load to empty. You're not supposed to do that Reno." she said.

"When was the last time you cleaned it?" he retaliated.

"How long have I been out?" Jasmine asked.

"Almost a day." Sephiroth answered.

"Then I cleaned it out three days ago. I usually clean it out every couple of days. If you don't, she fills it up pretty quick. That's why you don't let it go Reno." she said.

"Well I refuse to cat sit for you again." Reno said leaving the room.

"Riiiight. We'll see how long that threat lasts." she said leaning her head back. She noticed that her neck felt lighter and she reached up and felt that something was missing. "Where's my necklace?" she asked as she began searching the tables in the room with her eyes.

"Right here." Sephiroth answered as he reached and grabbed a necklace with a light red gem attached to a gold chain off the table next to her bed. The gem was large enough that it almost filled the palm of his hand. "I never knew you had this."

"It was my mother's. I guess I feel closer to her when I wear it. I almost never take it off." She said as she took the necklace from him.

"You knew your parents?" he asked.

She nodded. "My father I remember better because he died after my mother did. She died when I was three and my father died when I was five. I lived with my aunt until my guardian took me."

"I never knew mine."

Jasmine looked up at him with sympathetic eyes. It always broke her heart to hear people say that they never knew any members of their family.

Jasmine sighed as she put her key into the lock of her door. She was finally given the okay to return home, but having Sephiroth escort her so she wouldn't go to work was a bit ridiculous. Hollander had told her to take the week off so the Cure that Sephiroth was going to give her could work properly so she could heal quickly. She hadn't planned on going to work since her shoulder was sore and she bet that the Cure wasn't going to get rid of the soreness either. She actually wanted to take it easy.

"You want something to drink?" she asked as she set her keys down at the table, next to the computer she had in the dining room.

"No thanks." He answered as he followed her to the living room.

"I'm going to get a glass of water then you can give me the Cure." She said as she continued to the kitchen.

Sephiroth nodded and stayed in the living room to wait for her. He started to walk over to the couch, but stopped when he heard yelling coming from the kitchen.

"You get down off the counter! You know better!"

He then saw the cat had stopped running at the doorway to the kitchen and look back in.

"Don't you give me that look missy, you're going to get it!"

The cat swished its tail and walked into the living room. She stopped in front of him and looked up at him. He ignored her and sat down on the couch to wait for Jasmine. The cat walked over to him and started sniffing one of his boots, seemingly interested. He continued to ignore her until he felt her rubbing against his leg.

"Patches, go watch the birds." Jasmine said as she entered the room and gestured to the window. She didn't need Sephiroth getting annoyed at her cat. He watched with amusement as the cat did as it was told and jumped onto the window ledge and look out.

"I'm surprised that Shinra allowed you to keep a pet in here." he said.

"They wouldn't allow me to have a dog, but they allowed me to keep her. Anyway, is it better that I sit down for this?" she said as she set her glass of water on the side table next to the couch.

"Have you ever been cured like this before?" Sephiroth asked. She shook her head no. "Then yes, you better sit down."

She watched as he took out a green orb and hold it out away from himself towards her. She was surrounded by a green light momentarily. She couldn't quite explain how she felt. She didn't feel horrible, but not exactly good either. She fell back onto the couch and closed her eyes.

"How do you feel?" Sephiroth asked as he put the materia away.

"Uhh, dizzy?" she answered. "And a little nauseous?"

"That's normal for the first time." he replied.

She opened her eyes and looked at him. "You don't have to stay here if you don't want to."

"I promised Hollander that I would give you a second dose a couple of hours after the first." he said.

"Doesn't mean you have to stay here." Jasmine said.

"Maybe I want to stay here." he replied.

Her eyes widened a little and she blushed and looked away when Sephiroth leaned in a little. "What are you looking at?"

"Are your eyes violet?" he asked.

"Yeah. It runs in the girls of my father's side of the family." she answered.

"I never noticed that before." He replied.

She suddenly felt like she needed to busy herself and she looked at Patches. She was still perched on the windowsill, but she wasn't looking outside. Jasmine reached into the drawer of the table next to her end of the couch. She pulled out a laser pointer and started moving the laser around on the floor. This immediately got the cat's attention and she started watching it intently. Jasmine smiled as she watched Patches ready herself then finally pounce on the little light. She got the cat worked up enough to run after the light and hit the wall on the other side of the room as she chased the laser. This lasted for about an hour until Patches got tired of the game and jumped back onto the windowsill to take a nap in the sunbeam.

"I didn't know how amused a cat can be by a little light." Sephiroth stated as he watched Patches make herself comfortable.

"Yeah, but I'm surprised at how relaxed she is around you." Sephiroth looked at Jasmine. "You're a stranger to her and she usually doesn't warm up and relax around people she doesn't know. It took her a week to get used to Reno coming around." She explained.

"I see you two together a lot and you seem really relaxed around him. Are you two dating?"

Jasmine snorted then started laughing. "You're kidding right?" she saw the serious look that he gave her and she quit laughing. "You're serious. No, we went on a couple of dates, but it never got any more serious than that. We're just friends."

Sephiroth shook his head. "I don't know how you can stand being around him. He can get annoying."

"Yes he can, but he takes his job very seriously. He's also fun to be around, and can get my mind off things. That's one of the reasons why I like hanging around with him." Jasmine explained.

"Where are you from anyway?" Sephiroth asked trying to make a more comfortable conversation with her.

"A place that is far from here and that I would like to forget. Let's just leave it at that. What about you?" she said.

"Grew up here in Shinra." he replied.

The rest of the hour they sat in silence. Sephiroth gave her the second dose of Cure then left her place. She was slightly relieved when he left, but also a little disappointed. She also felt accomplished in learning a little bit about him. She also knew that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't help but like him.

_A/N: I know that it took me forever to get this chapter up. I wasn't happy either, but I hadn't slept that well Saturday and Sunday night and I didn't feel like trying to write yesterday because I was a little tired. I was able to get a better night sleep last night and was finally able to finish this chapter and update. You will learn a little bit more about Jasmine soon, maybe in the next couple of chapters or so. Stay tuned and R&R!_


	12. Chapter 11

_I sincerely apologize to all of my readers. I am very sorry for leaving you hanging like that for so long. Last week was a bit of a crazy week for me. I had stuff that I had to get done for school, I had a test, and I had to help my parents get ready for a cook out that we have every October 30th for my brother (yes, he was born one day before Halloween) and I had a huge writers block. I think I have it figured out now, so hopefully that won't happen again. I apologize again and I hope you all had a great Halloween, I know I did. Enjoy the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 11

Over the next couple of days Jasmine became restless. She didn't want to work on her computer that she was building, she didn't exactly want to work on her program yet, and Patches only kept her company for so long. She had called Tseng to find out about what had happened with the parts of the computer that she had retrieved and found out that it was really a virus. Not to long after Karen started the computer after putting the part in, it downloaded a ton of viruses and the computer crashed. She was thankful that she used a computer that wasn't linked to the company's main database, or they may have lost a lot of data that wouldn't have been retrievable.

By the third day she got a call from Reno saying that he and Rude were coming to pick her up to take her out to lunch. Even though it was in the company's cafeteria, she didn't mind. They offered to pay for it and she had a bad case of cabin fever. She was more than happy to be taken to lunch by Reno and Rude. They had gotten a pizza to share and after some coaxing, she was able to convince Reno to help her take the sling off, just for a while of course.

"Don't you think it's about time you put the sling back on?" Reno asked after they had devoured almost an entire pizza.

She shook her head. "No. I'm not as sore as I have been. I think I can go without it now."

"Its doctor's orders Jaz and I think you should follow them." Reno replied.

"And sometimes you have to follow your instincts." she shot back then looked to Rude who really hasn't said anything the whole time they were there. "Take the sunglasses off Rude, their bugging me."

"And why do they bug you?" he asked.

"I would like to make sure that your eyes aren't wandering someplace they shouldn't." she answered.

"You may be a woman with pleasant curves, but I always respect you. I can assure you my eyes are where they are supposed to be." Rude replied.

"Pleasant curves? Give me a break, I don't have anything." She said gesturing to her chest.

Reno folded his hands behind his head and leaned back enough in his chair that he was leaning on two legs. "Yeah right you don't have anything. That's why I take every opportunity I can to look at them."

She shot a shocked look at him momentarily then angrily brought her foot up on one of the legs causing the chair to fall backwards along with Reno.

"Aaaoow! Why did you do that?" he asked from the floor.

"You deserved it. You don't say something like that to a woman unless you're dating her or are married to her." Jasmine answered angrily.

"Why don't you yell at Rude? He mentioned you having curves." Reno whined.

"He said that respectfully. You on the other hand said it as if it were in an everyday conversation. Be glad that I'm not reporting you for that comment." Jasmine said as she stood up. She then stormed out of the cafeteria leaving the sling behind on her chair.

Jasmine spent the rest of her day in her apartment. Her handset kept going off from Reno, she knew, wanting to apologize. She decided to torture him a little and not answer her handset when she saw that it was his number that was trying to reach her. She was working at her computer that she wasn't building that evening when there was a knock on her door. She looked through the peep hole fully expecting to see Reno, but was surprised when she saw Sephiroth standing out there.

"Don't tell me that Reno sent you here." she said as she opened her door.

"No." he answered then looked at her shoulder. "Where's your sling?"

Jasmine looked off a little tapping her chin. "Yeah, you see I went out today and I just can't seem to remember where I left it."

He then held it up. "Like in the cafeteria?"

She gave him an annoyed look. "Your no fun." She said taking the sling and walked into her apartment. She left her door open and Sephiroth took it as an invite and walked in, closing the door behind him.

Instead of walking straight to the living room, he followed her through the door on the right to where there was supposed to be a dining room. She had turned it into a makeshift home office. She had a small table in there with a half assembled computer sitting on it and against the wall there was a desk with a computer that was running. Jasmine was sitting at it and started working on an image that was on the screen. He noticed that she had hung the sling on her chair instead of putting it back on.

"Do you really want a death wish from Hollander?" he asked as he approached her desk.

"He has to catch me first." she answered.

"Put it back on." he demanded.

She turned from the screen and leveled a glare at him. "No. I don't need it anymore." She turned back to the computer and started working again.

He had to admit, she had guts. There weren't a lot of people who would have given Sephiroth that sort of attitude. "Put the sling back on or you won't heal properly."

She looked back up at him. "I told you I don't need it. I gave it a couple of days to heal and it quit hurting yesterday. I don't need it."

"So stubborn." he said.

"Look whose talking." she shot back as she started typing at her computer.

Curiosity finally got the better of him and he finally looked at the computer screen. He saw what looked like a chair, but at the same time it wasn't a chair. "What are you working on?"

"It's part of my program. I now know how I want it to work, I just need something to make it work and that's what I'm working on right now." she answered.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's a device that will help you perform, what I'm calling an SND, Synaptic Net Dive. What this does is it projects an image of yourself into a virtual reality that is the network. It will help gather data in a different way than just by typing at a computer. I got the idea that the network is a virtual reality from the company training room." she explained.

"A different way of collecting data?"

"Yes. For example the computer parts that we retrieved. It turned out that it was loaded with a bunch of viruses. It downloaded on a disconnected computer and made it crash. If it had happened to the company's computers we wouldn't be able to retrieve the data that was lost. With this computer program you would be able to do retrieve the lost data." Jasmine answered.

"Pretty tricky." Sephiroth said.

"We're going to have to be. I don't know who is working for AVALANCHE, but he is very computer savvy. I myself am having a hard time keeping up with him. This program will help me keep in step with him, if not get ahead of him a little bit." Jasmine said.

"I have to say that this is quite impressive." he said catching her eye.

"Thanks." she said blushing a little.

"Be sure to get some rest. If you're as well as you say that you are, then I want to see you in the training room in the morning. I'll take the sling back to Hollander." Sephiroth said as he made his way towards the door.

"I'll be there." she said closing and locking the door behind him. She leaned against it and gave a small sigh. 'Why does he affect me like this? I guess it doesn't matter. I don't think he has any interest in me anyway.' She thought as she pushed off from the door and walked back to her computer. She decided to save what she had done and get to sleep early. She knew that she was going to have a busy schedule again when she started training again tomorrow.

_A/N: I think that's a good stopping point for this chapter. I don't ever recall anyone explaining how or who created the SND that you see in Dirge of Cerberus. If anyone out there knows, please just go along as Jasmine creating it for the sake of the story. Again, I apologize for the slow update. It just couldn't be helped with how hectic things got around here. I thank all of you for being patient with me and I hope that I don't leave you hanging for that long again. R&R!_


	13. Chapter 12

_Hey I'm back with another chapter. I decided not to leave you hanging for a long time, because well let's face it. I left you guys hanging forever the last time! I wasn't happy with myself for doing that to you guys so, I'm going to put up a chapter, and hopefully it will be a longer one as an apology for leaving you guys for so long. That's enough of that, so on with the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 12

Jasmine readied her weapon as he came at her again. She was just now realizing what it was she had done. She was barely able to block the attacks that Sephiroth threw at her and she dodged the last blow so she could get a second to breathe a little. He didn't give her much time to do it though. He was coming back at her again and she raised her sword, prepared to block the attack, when Sephiroth disintegrated in front of her.

"Reno, now is not the time to-" she turned around to see Sephiroth standing there putting his handset away. "Oh, it's only you."

"What were you doing fighting an image of me?" he asked as he leveled a look at her.

"I wanted to see how good I had gotten…and I wanted a challenge for once." Jasmine answered.

"If you wanted a better challenge you should have said so. You're not at the right level to be fighting me." Sephiroth said.

"Well I thought I was doing pretty good." she shot at him.

"You could have gotten yourself killed." he replied.

"It's a virtual image." Jasmine tried to reason.

"People have died in virtual realities. It's rare, but not unheard of." Sephiroth firmly said.

Jasmine sighed as she crossed her arms then looked to the floor. She suddenly felt guilty for what she had done. She had entered the place early to warm up for the training, and then she had a thought. She decided to upload Sephiroth's status and fight it. It wasn't until about five minutes into the fight that she realized what it was she had gotten herself into.

"Sorry, it won't happen again." she finally said looking up at him.

"Just don't do that again unless you have either gotten better through your training, or I'm around to supervise." he replied as he walked into the room. "If it's a challenge that you're after, then we can do a virtual reality mission."

"What would that be?" she asked.

Shephiroth didn't answer her as he took out his handset. He hit a few buttons and then the virual reality started up around them. They were standing in a train car that was going to a destination. She turned to Sephiroth awaiting an explanation.

"This train has been taken over by the group AVALANCHE. Our job is to take control of the train. I'll clear out anybody in here and you take the top. Make your way towards the engine with me and we'll take back control of the train." he explained and handed her a materia. "It's a bolt materia. Use it only when needed."

"Do you want me to clear away any resistance?" Jasmine asked as she equipped the materia to her weapon.

Sephiroth nodded. "When it's needed. Don't be late."

She nodded as she walked to the front of the car and exited. She crossed to the other car and took the ladder to the top. She started running down the car when bullets stared raining on her from below. She then heard some shouts from below and the bullets ceased.

"Thanks for the cover." she sarcastically muttered then continued towards the next car. That was when she saw infantry men on the next car taking aim at her with their weapons. She casted the bolt materia as a distraction to them so she could move past them more easily. She continued running towards the engine, able to quickly move past any resistance before they had a chance to try to stop her. She made it to the engine at about the same time that Sephiroth did.

"Impressed?" she asked flashing a smile.

"Maybe." He answered as he entered the engine and stopped the train as it came up to a platform.

"Was that infantry men that we just took out?" she asked as the train came to a stop.

"They were members of AVALANCHE in disguise." he answered as he got off the train.

"Was this it?" she asked as she followed him off the train.

"Not exactly. We're going to split up from here. AVALANCHE has set some of Shinra's combat robots loose in the city. I want you to clear out Sector Eight of them as well as any resistance from the rebel group." Sephiroth said.

"What about the other Sectors?" Jasmine asked.

"Genesis and Angeal are out there clearing them out along with the Turks. You just focus on Sector Eight and give me a call when you finish." Sephiroth answered.

"And if you finish before me?" she asked.

"Then I'll come and give you a hand." he answered.

"You got it." she said then turned towards the sector she was to clear.

She knew when she was almost done because the numbers were dwindling. She turned to another robot, preparing to destroy it when someone with a red leather coat ran at it and destroyed it for her.

"This is Sector Eight." she told him.

"And your point is?"

"You're the real Genesis, not the virtual one?" Jasmine asked.

"Yes he's the real one." Sephiroth said as he hit buttons on his handset, causing the virtual reality to disintegrate around them. He then turned to Genesis. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard that you were doing some training and I came to see how it was going." He answered then turned to Jasmine. "Looks like your training is coming along great."

"Thanks." She replied.

"How was that? Was that a better challenge for you?" Sephiroth asked.

"It was alright." she answered.

"You handled it very professionally. I'm quite impressed." Angeal said as he entered the room.

"You two watched that entire thing?" Sephiroth asked, turning his attention to the two men.

"For the most part." Angeal answered then turned to Jasmine. "So, what is your dream?"

"And there is your introduction to who Angeal is." Genesis said as he walked off to the side a bit.

Jasmine put her hands on her hips and thought about it a little. "To become the best that I can be." she answered, turning to him.

"Hold onto your dreams and no matter what happens, protect your honor." he replied giving her a small smile.

She nodded, returning the smile.

"Heeeeeeeeeeey! Waaaaaiiiiiiiit!"

Jasmine didn't stop walking, even though Reno was running after her screaming.

"Can you…wait a minute?" he asked as he tried to catch his breath and keep up with her.

Jasmine didn't answer as she continued to walk down the hallway, looking straight ahead.

"You've been avoiding my calls." he stated when he finally caught his breath.

"And why do you think that is?" she asked not stopping.

"To torture me!" Reno answered

"Good answer."

"I thought that you were feeling a little down about your looks and I thought that you would take that as a compliment." Reno was then pushed into the wall hard enough that he hit his head. "Ow! Okay, I deserved that." he said and he trotted to catch up with her. "Okay, that's not a compliment. I learned my lesson and I'm sorry. Can you please forgive me?"

"That's not how you beg for forgiveness." She said stopping and looking at him. "Get on your knees and beg for me to forgive you." she said pointing to the floor.

"You're doing this for your own entertainment." he accused, narrowing his eyes at her.

"I guess our friendship doesn't mean anything to you anymore." she said as she turned and started to walk away.

"Wait!"

She stopped, stifling a grin and looked back at Reno. He rubbed the back of his head as he looked down the hall behind him. He then sighed as he got down on his knees. "I know that my statement yesterday offended you and I am on my knees **begging** for forgiveness. Please, please, please can you forgi-" Reno stopped short, a look of horror crossing his face.

Jasmine turned around to see Tseng standing there looking at Reno with his arms crossed.

Reno started waving his hands in front of him. "This is not what it looks like! This is not what it looks like!"

"It's exactly what it looks like." Jasmine said as she started giggling. "You may get up now Reno. You've been forgiven."

"Anyway, Jasmine I need to speak with you." Tseng said taking his gaze from Reno and beckoned to her to walk with him.

"Okay, what about?" she asked as she walked with Tseng.

"The president is throwing a dinner party for his son next week."

"I am not being entertainment." she firmly said.

Tseng threw her an annoyed look. "That's not what I'm here to talk to you about."

"Then what?" she asked.

"There are going to be a lot of guests here and the president wants a few guards in the room. The Turks will be there with Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal. I'm here to tell you that you are also going to attend to help provide protection." he explained.

"Won't there be enough there with all of you there?" Jasmine asked.

"Sephiroth wants you there for the experience." he answered. "Wear something that is decent, but also something that you can be prepared to fight in."

He left her standing in the hall as he continued back to his office.

"Great. A night of boredom. That's really how I want to spend my evening." she said as she turned to the elevators to go to her apartment.

_A/N: I hope that was long enough to make up for the long wait. I want to end this chapter here, because I'm getting a little tired of typing and I don't want to continue on with the story with this chapter. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to wait to see what's going to happen at the party in the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed. R&R!_


	14. Chapter 13

_I have some time before I have to go to work, so I'm updating with another chapter. Tomorrow I'm making myself do a little bit of homework (ugh!), so I don't know if I will be able to update tomorrow before I have to go to work, but we'll see. Anyway, on with the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 13

"Do you really think I'm ready for giving protection services?" Jasmine asked, as she walked with Sephiroth to the room where the dinner party was going to be held.

"You've progressed in your training faster than I could have ever anticipated. I think you need some experience to go along with your training." Sephiroth said.

"That's not what I asked." she replied as they came to a stop at the door of the room.

Sephiroth looked at her seriously. "Yes, you're ready for this."

Jasmine gave him a small smile before turning to the door and following him into the room. It was huge, enough room to hold at least a hundred people. There were tables and chairs arranged in the room, so there was room for dancing if people chose to do so. On one side of the room there was a long table for some alcoholic punch and snacks for before and after dinner. She looked up and saw that the ceiling was glass.

"And I want you to stay away from the alcohol."

She looked back towards the long table when she heard Tseng's voice, obviously talking to Reno.

"Yeah, yeah. I know boss. I'll stick to the water." Reno said.

"I'll make sure that he does that." Rude said as Jasmine approached them.

"Thank you Rude. I would greatly appreciate that." Tseng said.

"Jazzie Jaz, nice to see you here." Reno said.

"The party isn't for another day and you're already hitting on me?" Jasmine teased.

"Who wrote the rule that it has to be at a party or dance that a girl can get hit on?" Reno asked.

"That's enough, we're not here for that." Tseng said.

Jasmine took a moment to observe the room fully. "I don't like this room. It's huge and there are a ways for this party to go wrong."

"The president insisted on using this room. Once he makes up his mind, there's no changing it." Sephiroth replied.

"What's so wrong with this room that's making you uncomfortable? We've held parties in this room a few times and nothing's ever gone wrong." Reno said.

"Well, there's the alcohol and glass ceiling." She looked to the right of the room to the row of glass doors. "Are the doors to the balcony going to be open?"

"Yes. The president insists they be open for airflow into the room."

Jasmine turned to see a woman with light red hair and wearing a Turks uniform enter the room.

"Jaz this is Cissnei, Cissnei this is Jasmine." Reno said.

"You're the computer wiz that Reno keeps telling me about. Pleased to meet you." Cissnei said extending her hand.

Jasmine took it. "Same to you. I've also heard a lot about you from Reno."

"Is this your first time to one of these things?" Cissnei asked.

"Yeah." sighed Jasmine.

"Hey, it's not big deal. Intermingle a little with the guests, dance if you want and have fun." Reno said.

"While staying alert at the same time." Sephiroth added.

"Do you have an outfit that is decent, but you can also fight in if necessary?" Tseng asked.

"Yes, I do." Jasmine answered.

"What are you wearing?" Reno asked.

"I'm not telling." Jasmine answered as she left the group and exited the room.

It took a couple of hours for Jasmine to get ready for the dinner party. She had bought an outfit a couple of years ago, but never wore it. She had dug it out to wear to the party since it was something that she could be prepared to fight in, but it was also decent. It was a long sleeved red coat that was short in the front, but it went to about a few inches from the floor in the back. It had black outlining of roses and vines over it. It buttoned a couple of buttons in the front on top. She was also wearing a black spaghetti strapped tank under it with black dress pants. She decided to wear the boots that went a little over the ankle and had a little bit of a heel to them.

She decided to put on a little bit of mascara, eye liner, eye shadow, lip gloss and a little bit of blush. She thought that since it was a bit of a special occasion she could wear a little bit of make up. She ended up leaving her hair down, but curling it in towards her face a little. She knew that Sephiroth wouldn't be happy, but she left her mother's necklace on with the light red jewel. She thought that it accented nicely with the outfit she had chosen to wear. When she was satisfied with how she looked, she headed to the room where the party was to be held.

She got there before any of the guests were scheduled to arrive, just like she was instructed to do. The stage was off to the side of the room for the small orchestra that was supposed to be there. They were warming up and getting their instruments ready for playing. She went to the end of the long table and grabbed a bottle of water.

"We look nice."

She turned to see Tseng approaching her. "Thanks. Do you think it's too much?"

He gave her a small smile. "No. It's nice, but not to elegant."

She returned the smile then looked to the door when she heard people come in. It was Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal. They were wearing what they normally wore, their SOLDIER uniforms.

"I knew I was going to out dress someone." she muttered.

"Don't worry about it, your fine." Tseng said before leaving to attend to some last minute things before the president arrived with his wife, son and guests.

"Heeeey beautiful."

"Don't start Reno." Jasmine said as she looked to her right.

"Fine, be a party pooper." Reno replied.

"I will." She playfully shot back before turning back to the room as the president entered with his son.

"Well, it won't be long until the guests arrive and the party will be in full swing." Reno said.

Reno was right. About thirty minutes later, all of the guests had arrived and the party started. Jasmine relaxed a little after the dinner was over and the guests started dancing and intermingling with each other. She decided not to interact with the guests, but to keep an eye out for anything that could go wrong.

"You're supposed to be having fun, not hanging in the background being a wallflower." Reno said as he walked over to her.

"Maybe you can relax with strangers Reno. I can't. I never have and I never will." Jasmine replied.

"Maybe you can get Sephiroth to dance with you." he teased.

Jasmine just gave him a look that read, don't push it, and then turned her gaze back to the party. She saw that Genesis and Angeal were still engaged with fans of theirs, but Sephiroth was being just as stoic as she was.

"I'll give you fifty gil if you're able to get Sephiroth to dance a dance with you." Reno challenged.

"I might as well pay you now because it ain't gonna happen." Jasmine said.

"I dare you to." he said.

"Oh, you're on." she said. She decided to go the long way around the room so she wouldn't be talked to by anybody or get trampled on by the dancers. She also needed a plan to get him onto the dance floor with her. She passed a group of young girls, around her age, trying to figure out a plan to get him onto the balcony with them.

She smiled as she approached him. "How about a dance?"

Sephiroth slowly turned his head and looked at her. "I would prefer not to."

"It's either a dance or two with me, or a night out on the balcony with that group of girls over there." Jasmine replied.

"I can assure you that won't happen." Sephiroth said as he turned back towards the room.

"Oh, come on. You're the only good looking guy here that's free." Jasmine said as she grabbed his hand and dragged him onto the dance floor.

Once she got him onto the floor, she put his left hand on her waist, took his right hand in her left and she placed her right hand on his shoulder. She coaxed him into moving with her in time to the beat of the music, that she silently thanked was slow. It took him a minute to get the hang of it, and when he did he took over leading like the man was supposed to do while dancing.

"How did you know that those girls were planning to try to get me onto the balcony with them?" Sephiroth asked.

"I overheard them talking." Jasmine answered.

"Jealousy your motive?"

"Not entirely." she admitted.

He didn't get a chance to push the issue further. The song had ended and the orchestra was preparing to start a new song. He noticed that Jasmine was starting to walk away, but he grabbed her hand to keep her from leaving. She looked down at her hand then gave him a quizzical look.

"My turn to ask you to dance." he said.

She gave him a small smile. "Alright."

The song was a little bit slower than the last one, but Sephiroth used it to his favor. He brought her a little closer to him and worked their way out of the crowd of dancers. When they made it to the edge of the dance floor, he led her out onto the balcony, which was miraculously empty. When they got out there, they stopped dancing and gazed into each other's eyes for a moment. She felt her face heat up a little, and she looked away from his gaze. He took her hand and gently led her over to the railing of the balcony.

"I thought you said that you wouldn't come out here." Jasmine said as she leaned on the railing facing the city.

"I would rather be with you than with those girls in there." Sephiroth replied also leaning on the railing, but was facing the room.

Jasmine was able to stop the gasp from leaving her mouth as she gazed towards the sky. "You really can't see the stars that well in the city. That's one thing I miss about not living in the country." she said when she thought she had composed herself again.

Sephiroth glanced at the sky before turning to her. "So, what was your reason for asking me to dance?"

"Uh, Reno…made it into a challenge, then a bet…and then a dare." Jasmine answered sheepishly.

Sephiroth looked at her for a moment before replying. "That's one thing I like about you. You're always honest with me."

She looked at him, surprise evident on her features. "You're not angry with me?"

"Why should I be?"

She didn't have an answer for that. She looked out to the city instead, letting the silence stretch out.

"How's your program coming along?" Sephiroth asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I re-represented it to my boss who represented it to his boss who represented it to Shinra. He's getting it fully produced now." Jasmine answered smiling a little.

"Congratulations."

"Thanks." she replied. "Shouldn't we get back inside?"

"We can see the room from here, we're fine." Sephiroth answered.

The silence returned, and it was Jasmine's turn to break it. "Can I ask you a question?"

Sephiroth turned to her and patiently waited for her to continue.

"Have you ever met someone you feel you should know, but at the same time you don't know who they are?" she asked.

"No, but I do know what you mean." he answered. "Why is there someone like that here?"

"Not here, but do you remember when we went to retrieve the computer parts?"

Sephiroth nodded. "Yes, I remember."

"I don't know why, but what he said about having to fight in order to win the war. I heard that somewhere before and I just can't put my finger on it. I feel like I should know who-"

Sephiroth put a hand to her face making her turn to look at him. "Don't worry about it so much." He said as he cherished her cheek. Her heartbeat sped up as he leaned in towards her, but the moment was short lived. A siren started going off and a red light started flashing. They hurried back into the room to where Tseng was.

"Sephiroth, you escort the president and his family to safety. Reno and Rude you stay here with me and protect the guests. Genesis and Angeal you go to the science department and protect the scientists Hojo and Hollander. Cissnei and Jasmine, you two go to the main lobby and find out what's going on." he ordered.

With one nod, everyone hurried to their assignments.

_A/N: I'm going to have to leave you hanging there because I'm out of time. I have to go to work so you'll have to wait till the next chapter to see what's going on. I'm sorry, I don't like cliff hangers either, but I have to stop it there. Stay tuned till next time, R&R!_


	15. Chapter 14

_Hello my loyal readers. I was able to get my homework done earlier than I could have anticipated, so I'm giving you another chapter earlier today. I don't want to elaborate further than that, so on with the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 14

Jasmine and Cissnei decided to take the elevator down because it would have been faster than taking the stairs. Cissnei was the one to break the silence in the elevator.

"Where's your weapon?" she asked.

"In my apartment. Don't worry, I can handle a fight without it." Jasmine answered.

"I would feel better if you take this." Cissnei said handing her a gun and holster.

"Thanks, but what about you?" Jasmine asked as she equipped the weapon.

"I have my shuriken with me. Don't worry about me." Cissnei answered. "You do know how to use a gun right?"

Jasmine gave her a small smile. "Don't worry. I have some experience with fire arms."

They didn't get a chance to elaborate further on their weapons. The elevator stopped at the main lobby and they cautiously exited. They didn't see anybody right away which made them both uneasy.

"Let's split up. You go left and I'll go right. We'll meet up in the main area of the lobby." Cissnei whispered.

Jasmine nodded and they went their separate ways. Jasmine carefully made her way around towards the main area. She carefully looked around a corner and quickly ducked back behind it. There was a man out there with a gun and she didn't need to give away her position to him yet. When she peeked out again he had his back to her and she decided to take a chance and try to sneak up behind him. If it wasn't for that broken piece of glass that she stepped on she would have succeeded in sneaking up on him.

Instead of stopping dead, she rushed him, which shocked him. That bought her enough time to knock the weapon to the side away from her body. She then sent a spinning kick at him, causing him to fall back and lose his grip on his gun. He made a reach for it, but she quickly kicked it out of his reach. She then quickly kicked him in the face, knocking him out.

"Quick thinking."

Jasmine turned to see Cissnei approaching her, shuriken in hand. "Thanks."

"You work with computers. I want you to go over there and see what the surveillance tapes show about what's going on in the rest of the Shinra building. I'll keep an eye on him." Cissnei said.

Jasmine went and made quick work of the computer at the front desk of the lobby. "Science floor is clear except for Genesis, Angeal and the scientists. The president and his family are secure for now. The guests have been cleared out. Looks like everything is cl-" she stopped when she thought she saw something.

"Jasmine talk to me. What's going on?" Cissnei said.

"That room that the party was held in. There's someone there that I don't think is supposed to be there." Jasmine answered.

"Alright, you go check it out. I'll take care of him." Cissnei replied.

"You sure you'll be alright by yourself?" Jasmine asked.

"I'll be fine. Go."

Jasmine hurried back to the elevator and went back to the floor that she came from. When she got to the room, it seemed that the person who was there had left. She was just starting to think that maybe she mistook it for an employee who came to see what was going on, until she saw movement on the other side of the room.

"I told you that we would meet again, Jasmine."

"It's you. How do you know my name?" she asked.

"That's not important right now." He shook his finger at her when she drew out the gun. "You of all people should know that a true warrior never trusts a weapon to keep them alive. We will fight hand to hand." the masked man said.

"Fair enough." she said putting the gun away.

The man then kicked the table nearest to him at her. She was able to do a diving summersault out of the way. She stood up and wondered why he didn't rush her when he had the chance to.

"Dodging was always your specialty. Now let's see how your attacks have developed." the man said then ran at her.

She was able to run out of the way of him, but he suddenly turned with her and threw a punch at her. She did a back flip and tried to kick him in the process, but missed him entirely as he cart wheeled out of the way. She rushed at him and tried to throw a punch but he blocked it with his forearm. He used his other hand to land a punch to her ribs and then he did a spinning kick, causing her to fly back a little. He came at her while she was on the ground, but she landed a kick at his head causing him to fly back and knock his masked helmet in the process. She quickly stood up and got ready for his next attack, but instead he retrieved his mask, but he didn't put it back on.

"Very good Jasmine, you have gotten better over the years." He turned to face her. "Remember me now?"

She gasped when she saw his face. "No, you're supposed to be dead. You were killed in the Northern Continent."

"I wish that I was." he replied as he replaced his mask. "I wish for a fight to the death, and I believe only you can give me that. I want you to give me death Jasmine."

"Is that why you joined AVALANCHE? To get to me?" she asked.

"I joined AVALANCHE because I believe that I would be able to die in the process of helping them, but every opponent I met I defeated easily. Then I met you at the lab. I know that you can give me what I want Jasmine." he explained. He didn't elaborate further, but turned to the door when he heard footsteps approaching. "Give me what I want. When we meet again, it will be a fight to the death."

With that he ran onto the balcony and jumped. Jasmine watched him jump and didn't turn to face whoever had walked into the room. She didn't react to them until she was spoken to.

"Are you alright?"

She turned to see Sephiroth standing next to her. "Other than being shocked, yes."

"Shocked?"

She turned to Genesis, who was standing next to Angeal. "Yes, I was reunited with my cousin David, who I believed to be dead for almost eleven years."

"We'll deal with him later. Jasmine, do you think you could handle a mission?" Sephiroth said.

"Yeah, what is it?" she asked.

"The man that was captured in the lobby talked. He gave away the position of a part of the rebel group who is going to send an attack on the building. He wouldn't say what it was but he made it sound really bad." Angeal explained.

"We're going to go intercept them." Jasmine said, more of a statement than a question.

"Exactly. Go change and grab your weapon. Hurry, but be ready." Sephiroth said.

She nodded and hurried to her apartment. When she felt ready she left, but as an after thought, she kept her mother's necklace on.

According to the information that was given, the group was preparing outside of Midgar. The exact location was unclear so they decided to split up to look for the group. Jasmine was given orders to not engage in a fight but to send a message to one of them, giving the location if she found them. She would then watch them and follow them, continuing to give the location until one of them was able to join her. They would then intercept the group and stop the planned attack.

"You shouldn't have worn the necklace out here. I tolerated it at the party, but you shouldn't have worn it here." Sephiroth said after Genesis and Angeal left.

"I told you, I hardly ever take it off." Jasmine replied as she put the necklace under her uniform. "My logic is if they don't know that I have it, they can't use it against me. My mother's always given me protection Sephiroth, and I really want to feel her near me right now." she explained.

"Just don't do it again." Sephiroth said as he turned and walked away.

She sighed as she turned towards the direction that she had been given to start searching. 'He doesn't understand, but I don't think I will be able to keep it a secret much longer.' She thought as she started to cautiously make her way east. She had looked for nearly an hour with no luck, until she heard some talking up ahead. She kept her cover and quietly made her way closer. She was able to see a couple of people there and Angeal was ordering them to drop their weapons.

She got out her handset and gave the message of the group's whereabouts and that Angeal had found the group. She also said that she was going to help him. No sooner had she sent that message that she looked up and saw that one of the men was summoning. After he summoned, he and the rest of the group ran off, leaving Angeal to defend himself.

'Bahamut, not good.' She thought as she ran towards him. The summon was readying his flare when she ran in front of Angeal.

"What are you doing? Get away from there!" Angeal yelled, but it was too late.

Bahamut released his flare and Angeal prepared to block it any way that he could and closed his eyes to the light. He opened his eyes when he didn't feel any pain and he saw Jasmine still standing in front of him holding the red jewel before her.

"Don't make me call upon Shiva Bahamut, because I will! We both don't want that!" she yelled.

Bahamut gave a small roar before he retreated into his materia form and dropped to the ground. Jasmine sighed as she released her jewel and walked over to the materia and picked it up. No sooner had she stood up a thin blade of a sword came up next to her head and she immediately raised her hands, still holding the materia.

"Who are you?"

She recognized it as Sephiroth's voice. "I am who you know me as, just with some power that I never talked about."

"Drop the materia." he ordered.

She did as she was told and Angeal retrieved it as Genesis set his sword at her throat so she wouldn't move. Angeal approached her and took the necklace from her by breaking the chain from her neck. She winced a little as he did so.

"Her necklace gave her some kind of power over the summon." he explained.

"I know, I saw." Sephiroth replied.

"You're under house arrest until the president decides what he wants to do with you after hearing about this." Genesis said.

Jasmine didn't reply, but gave Genesis a look of melancholy in her eyes.

_A/N: I know that your left with more questions than answers at this point, but I have to stop there. I don't have enough time to put up another chapter before I have to go to work, but I'll try to get another chapter up tomorrow when I get home from work. It really depends on my mood tomorrow, so I can't really make any promises at this point. Until next time, R&R!_


	16. Chapter 15

_I know that I said I would try to get another chapter up yesterday, but I just didn't feel like writing. My feet were killing me from standing around at work, I wasn't in the greatest mood and I was tired. Not a great combination for me to try to write in. Enough of the complaints from me, read the chapter already, lol! Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 15

It had been a few days since Jasmine had been put under house arrest at Shinra. She had been put into her own apartment, but the lock had been changed to an electronic one. You needed a card to get in and out of the place now. The president had also ordered to have at least one Turk stand guard outside of her apartment so she wouldn't have the chance to try to escape. Her necklace had been confiscated along with the computers that she had in her apartment and her handset. Her computer at work was in the process of being analyzed for any suspicious activities. The computer programs that she had created for Shinra were also being analyzed.

Sephiroth thought that the president was being too paranoid about the events that had taken place. He was sure that something as simple as an interrogation would have been enough but the president couldn't be dissuaded. Sephirioth became even more certain that the president had lost it completely when he went as far as to take her cat from her apartment under the suspicion that she may have used her to send messages to the rebel group AVALANCHE. He was sure that a dog would have done a better job than a cat, and Tseng was inclined to agree with him.

On the fourth day that Jasmine was under house arrest, Sephiroth decided to go and see her himself. If he could get the information from her, then maybe the president would hear her story and decide what to do with her quicker than just letting her sit in that place. When he went up there to see her, he wasn't surprised to see that both Reno and Rude were there guarding the door.

"Give me the card. I'm going in to see her." he said when he approached the two.

"Why are you going in to see her?" Reno asked.

"I'm going to interrogate her." answered Sephiroth.

"Under whose orders?" Reno asked.

"I'm not acting under any orders. I'm acting on my own instincts." Sephiroth said leveling a glare at Reno.

"Alright, alright here." Reno said giving him the card key. "We'll stay guarding out here."

"Don't bother, she won't be going anywhere with me in there." Sephiroth said.

"How long do you plan on staying in there?" Reno asked. Sephiroth turned and gave him a warning look. "We just want to know when to come back to our post is all."

"As long as it takes to interrogate her. I'll give you a call when I'm finished." he answered.

"Will your handset be on?" Rude asked.

"No." with that the door closed and the conversation was over.

"I guess we report to Tseng then." Reno said as he walked away with Rude.

Jasmine had heard the door open then shut, but she didn't leave her place on the couch. She didn't even look up when Sephiroth entered the room. He sighed when he saw her sitting there, staring at an invisible spot on the floor. He turned on the lamp that was sitting on a small table next to the easy chair in the room. The sun was setting and it was getting a little dark in the room.

"Have you eaten anything?" Sephiroth asked turning back to her.

"I guess I forgot." She answered.

He gave another sigh as he went to the kitchen. He went to the fridge to find something for her to eat. He settled on heating up the left over chicken fingers that she had. After letting them cool a little, he grabbed a couple of napkins for her and entered the living room again.

"Here, you need to eat something." He said as he held out the plate for her.

She looked at the plate then glanced up at him. "Thanks." she said as she took the plate from him.

He sat down in the easy chair and remained silent as she ate. When she finished she took the plate into the kitchen.

"I think that it would be best that you start talking." Sephiroth said standing up when she returned to the room.

"You won't believe anything that I tell you." she replied as she walked over to the window.

"Try me." he said as he joined her at the window.

"I'm a summoner." Jasmine said looking at him.

Sephiroth was silent for a moment. "Summoners don't exist. They're just a story."

"I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"Summoners don't exist." He stated firmly.

"That's what the years have taught you. We're just a bedtime story. Something for your imagination to indulge in, but we're just as real as they come." Jasmine said as she turned from the window.

"Stop talking nonsense. You need to tell the tru-"

"Your strength shouldn't be real, but it is. I'm telling you the truth when I say that summoners exist. Why don't you believe me?" Jasmine said.

"My strength is not the same as the story of summoners." Sephiroth replied.

"Really? How many people do you know have the strength that you do?" she asked.

Sephiroth thought for a moment. "Genesis and Angeal have-"

"They have strength." Jasmine cut in. "But they don't have the strength at the level that you have." she said as she sat down on the couch.

"Fair enough. I'll listen to what you have to say, then I'll decide on whether I believe it or not and I'll go talk to the president myself." Sephiroth said as he sat down next to her.

"I'm not from the continents. I'm from a small island to the east of this continent. Hardly anybody knows about that island anymore. I was born and raised there until I was eight years old. That was when my guardian took me from there. I stayed with him until I was fifteen. I ran off and I came to work here when I was sixteen. I've been here ever since." Jasmine said.

"You're going to have to elaborate further than that if you want me to believe you." Sephiroth stated.

She sighed. "Alright. Summoners go back thousands of years. This story that I'm about to tell you about has been lost to the main continents, but not to us. We're forced to remember this because it was our burden then, and it remains our burden to remember our failure. Thousands of years ago, summons were beings, like you and me. They had their own language, but they would also converse with us humans. One day, we don't know how it started or how it came about, but there were humans who despised the summons and believed that they would use their power to destroy human kind. There were humans who sided with the summons, believing that they wouldn't harm us."

"The summoners." Sephiroth said.

"Right. The war was drawn out for years. The humans hunted down the summons and we tried to either fight them, or protect the summons. The last two who were killed were Shiva and Ifrit. We tried to save them, but the humans who hunted us down were too many in number. There was absolutely nothing that we could do then. When the summons were gone, the humans who started the war started to hunt us down and exterminate us. After a few years they stopped, believing that we were also dead, but they were wrong. We survived, and continued to strive, even if it was in secret. We took over that island and remained there, but there are some of us who still wander the continents." Jasmine said.

"What about the crystal? It seemed that you were able to protect yourself and Angeal from the power of Bahamut just by holding it in front of you." Sephiroth replied.

"I'm getting there. Over time the Planet felt our plight at failing to save the summons and she decided to create something for us. We can either find it on a pilgrimage either on the island or on the continents, or we can hand it down through the generations of the family. The crystal was given to us by the Planet to summon any of the summons, but at a price. While we got the crystal, the materia was created to be found and used by the humans who exterminated them. The crystal however is more powerful than the materia. With the materia, you can only call upon one summon from that particular materia. With the crystal, we can call upon any summon and we can stop their attacks if they are used against us and control them. Hence the reason Angeal and I weren't hurt when Bahamut was called upon." she explained.

"You are from this island?" Sephiroth asked.

"Yes. Years ago, when we inhabited the island, we decided that we would have a leader to guide us and control us so we wouldn't use the power of the crystal for the wrong reasons. That leadership has stayed with the same family over the generations." said Jasmine.

"Are you saying?"

"Yes, I'm from that family." Jasmine answered.

"Then what are you doing here?" Sephiroth asked.

"I told you. I was taken from there by my guardian when I was eight." she answered.

"Why didn't you return when you were older?"

"Don't you think that would have been the first place that he would have looked? I think that by now I would have been protected due to my heritage, but I still didn't want to risk anybody getting hurt." she explained.

"Who is your guardian?" Sephiroth asked.

"My father's brother. He and my father are both from the continents. They were both intrigued by the story of the summoners and they decided they wanted to find the island. They succeeded in finding it and my father and mother fell in love. He decided to stay with my mother, but my uncle decided to return to the continents. He was given notice when I was born and that he was declared my guardian as well as the guardian of the siblings that I would have. When I was three, my mother died in childbirth with my sister who also perished. My father committed suicide when I was five. He wanted to reunite with his beloved wife instead of caring for me. I lived with my aunt on the island until I was eight, and that was when I was taken by my uncle. When I was fourteen I lost my virginity to a boyfriend, and when I was fifteen my uncle found out about that and tried to rape me. I ran from him soon after that and I came to Midgar to disappear. I lost trust in men until I started working here." Jasmine said.

"I don't know how you regained trust in men, but I understand your position." he replied.

"It was Reno who got me to trust men again…and you. I don't know why, but I was drawn to you. I still am." Jasmine said. She felt a blush start to creep onto her cheeks and she stood up and walked away from the couch. "That's all I have to tell. It's up to you whether you believe me or not."

"Some may have called that story a fairy tale, but I found myself believing it before you even finished." She turned to face him and jumped when she saw that he was standing right behind her. He reached out and placed a hand to her cheek. "They would call me crazy, but I believe you and I trust you."

"Why do you trust me when nobody else is right now?" she asked.

"You never gave me a reason not to trust you." He answered. "You never turned your back on any of us. You still don't even with the accusations."

He leaned down and captured her lips with his. Instead of pushing him away like he thought she would, she put her arms around his neck deepening the kiss. They finally parted when they needed air. He leaned his forehead to hers before speaking again.

"I'll go talk to the president tomorrow. Until he decides what to do, you're going to have to wait." he said.

He started to pull away, but Jasmine held onto him. "Please, don't leave me alone tonight. I've been alone for to long, not knowing what's going to happen. Please, don't leave me alone yet."

He nodded and placed his hand to her face again, cherishing her cheek. She leaned up and kissed him again. He pulled her closer deepening the kiss. When she felt his tongue run against her bottom lip, she opened her mouth giving him entrance. She moaned as his tongue explored her mouth. She gently led him to the couch, not once breaking the kiss.

_A/N: I don't have a whole lot of time till I have to go to my night class, so I'll have to end the chapter there for now. I got the idea of the summons being alive part from a story I read called Into the Darkness. It's on my favorites list if you want to read it. It's a yuffietine and I would highly recommend reading it. Warning: The next chapter will be a lemon, but you don't have to read it if you don't want to. There really won't by any development of the story plot in that chapter. I'll try to get another chapter or two up tomorrow after my eye doctor appointment, but it really depends on my mood tomorrow. Until the next chapter, R&R!_


	17. Chapter 16 lemon

_**Warning: This chapter is a lemon. Either turn back now, or skip ahead. **__If you read this chapter and didn't like it, don't flame me for it. It's your fault for reading it not mine. I gave you the warning beforehand. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 16

Jasmine didn't know how it happened, but they were on the couch with her astride Sephiroth's lap. As they continued to kiss she felt his need growing and her heart started racing. She was a little nervous since the last time she had done this was when she lost her virginity to her boyfriend at the time. She didn't get to think about that further when she felt his hand start to snake up under her shirt. She grabbed his hand and pulled it back out from her shirt. He stopped kissing her and looked at her confused.

"You're prepared, right?" she asked.

"Prepared how?"

"You do have a condom right?" asked Jasmine, looking at him seriously.

"No. I never really had that many experiences." Sephiroth finally answered.

"I'll be right back." Jasmine said.

She gave him a kiss then got up. She walked to her bedroom and opened the drawer to her bedside table. She pulled out a box of condoms but didn't get a chance to pull one out. She felt hands on her hips and lips kissing her neck. She moved her head to the side to allow easier access to her neck. Sephiroth pulled her back to him a little as he continued to kiss her neck, causing her to moan.

Jasmine finally turned around to continue kissing him. She then went to work on his coat and shoulder guards. As soon as they were loose, he let them slid off his frame to the floor. Before she could go to work on his belt he grabbed the edge of her shirt and pulled it up over her head. When she emerged he continued to kiss her backing her to the bed. She allowed herself to be laid onto it and Sephiroth undid her pants and pulled them off.

"This isn't fair. You're more dressed than I am." Jasmine playfully whined as she watched Sephiroth remove his boots before coming onto the bed.

"Deal with it." he playfully commanded as he climbed on top of her.

He used his lips to part hers so he could snake his tongue into her mouth. As he fought her tongue with his she worked on his belt. He didn't realize what she had done until he felt her pull it loose and let it fall to the floor. He backed off a little and pulled her into a sitting position. As he continued to kiss her he unclasped her bra and pulled it off her shoulders. He lazily tossed it to the side.

Before he could lay her back down onto her back, Jasmine quickly flipped them so she was on top. She kissed down his jaw line to his neck, looking for his soft spot. She knew she found it when Sephiroth gave a small growl. She paused to suck on it as she undid his suspenders. She then continued to leave a trail of kisses down his neck, to his shoulders and to his chest. She continued to kiss down his torso until she came to the edge of his pants. She unbuttoned them, pulled down the zipper and proceeded to pull them off. He raised his hips, allowing her to remove them. When she returned she wasn't too surprised to see his boxers tented up by his erected member.

"I can't wait to see what you have in here." Jasmine said as she placed her hand on him and giving a small squeeze.

Sephiroth gave a small gasp then groaned as she did this. She could tell through his clothing that he was close and that he was a good size. She didn't know how big he really was until she pulled his boxers off.

"Oh, fuck." She whispered to herself when his member was released from its confines. Sephiroth was very well endowed and it scared her a little bit.

"Are you alright?" he asked looking down at her when she had stopped her antics.

"Y-yeah, just a little more surprised is all." Jasmine answered, giving him a nervous smile.

"We'll take it slow." he promised her.

She nodded and started kissing her way up his torso. She then decided to be bold and started to stroke his member. Sephiroth moaned as he dug his head back into the pillows and gripped the sheets as she did this. She got more confident and lowered her head back to his member and licked the tip. This elicited another moan from Sephiroth and she licked his member from base to tip. With a swirl of her tongue she took his head into her mouth and started to suck, causing him to groan. She relaxed her throat and took all of him in causing Sephiroth's groans to become louder. Sephiroth continued to moan as she took his length. He started panting when he felt his climax building.

"Jasmine, I'm going to-"

Jasmine's eyes widened a bit in shock as he released himself into her. She swallowed as he released then she released his member from her mouth. She was panting a little when Sephiroth brought her up to him.

"I'm sorry." he said as he held her.

"It's alright. It wasn't as bad as I heard that it was." Jasmine replied.

He cherished her cheek as she leaned to him and kissed him. He gently rolled them so he was on top, not breaking the kiss as he did so.

"My turn." he said, breaking the kiss.

He kissed down her neck to the valley between her breasts. He stopped and took one of them into his mouth and began to suck. Jasmine dug her hands into his hair and moaned as he did this. She moaned louder when he started kneading the other breast with his hand. He then left her breasts and started to kiss his way down her torso. When he got to her panties he pulled them off her hips. He kissed his way up her inner thigh, to her hips, then up her torso. He used his finger to stroke her love button causing Jasmine to groan into his mouth as he kissed her.

He then let his finger continue further down until he found her opening. He inserted his finger causing her to gasp and hips to buck a little. He elicited another moan from her when he inserted another finger and started to move them in and out. He quickened his pace when he felt her walls constrict around his fingers causing her to climax quicker.

"Sephiroth, please make love to me." Jasmine moaned when he removed his fingers.

He gave her a small smile as he reached for the box of condoms. He looked at the box as he opened it to retrieve a condom.

"Class Act lubricated thin condoms?" he asked giving her a questioning look.

"By Trojan. Their thin for sensitivity but strong." she explained as he retrieved one and put the box back on the table.

"We'll see how sensitive these really are." he replied as he tore open the wrapper and put on the condom.

He parted her legs a little more before he descended upon her. He started kissing her as he entered her. She gripped his shoulders and moaned into his mouth as he slid into her. He paused a minute to allow her body to adjust to his size. When he felt that she was ready he slowly started to thrust into her. Moans filled the room as he established the slow rhythm. Their bodies became covered in sweat as he continued to thrust into her.

The condoms were true to their name. They really were sensitive and it brought about a climax quickly for both of them. He knew she was getting close when she started to constrict around him. His climax was also nearing and he was having a difficult time controlling the slow rhythm. He lost all control when they both went over the edge and he quickened his pace. He gave one final thrust when he released himself causing them both to call out each other's names in unison. They both were still panting when he pulled out and removed the condom. Once he threw it away he pulled the blankets over them and gathered her into his arms.

"Wow that was much better than my first time." Jasmine said when she caught her breath.

"I never believed in a snappy climax." Sephiroth said as he hugged her closer to him.

"I'm definitely going to remember this night." she said as she drifted off to sleep.

"So will I." he whispered as he followed her into sleep.

_A/N: This was so much better in my head. I just seem to have a little trouble getting it down on paper once I figure it out in my head, lol. Again, don't flame me if you read this and didn't like it. I didn't force you to read it, you did that on your own. Hope you enjoyed, R&R!_


	18. Chapter 17

_If you didn't read the chapter before this due to the lemon, don't worry you didn't miss anything for the plot. Anyway, I think this will be the last chapter for today. I'm getting a little tired from writing, lol. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 17

Jasmine acknowledged that her shower was running, but she wasn't awake enough to care. She fell back to sleep and didn't wake up until she felt the bed shift a little. She opened her eyes to see Sephiroth looking at her while propped on an elbow.

"Good morning." He said when he saw that she was awake.

"Morning." She yawned. "What time is it?"

"Almost six thirty." Sephiroth answered. "I always get up at this time. Habit." He explained when she gave him a questioning look.

She nodded as she stretched. She then realized that she was in her own bed. She went over the events of the night before in her head in order to remember how she got there. She remembered telling him about herself, then they started making out on the couch, then she came in here for condoms and they never left the room after that. She sighed when she was satisfied with remembering what had happened.

"I didn't hurt you last night did I?" Sephiroth asked.

She shook her head. "No." she then took one of his hands and brushed her lips against it. "You were amazing last night."

"As were you. I want to let you know that last night didn't mean nothing to me."

She looked up at him, curiosity gracing her features.

"I think I love you Jasmine. I've been denying myself since we formally met, but I'm not going to deny myself anymore." he said.

She sat up a bit and kissed him. "I also love you Sephiroth. I think I fell in love with you when I first saw you that day in the cafeteria."

He smiled. "I remember." He then kissed her again and got up. "I called Reno and Rude about ten minutes ago, after I had showered. I hope you don't mind."

"No. As long as you didn't use all the shampoo." she teased.

He smiled at her as he began to get dressed. "You do know that you could lose your job for sleeping with your superior…if the president decides not to do anything to you, right?"

"I don't care as long as I can be with you." Jasmine answered as she watched him get dressed.

Sephiroth finished and walked back over to the bed and leaned down to her. "If the president decides to do something to you…I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."

Jasmine kissed him. "I know you won't."

"Reno and Rude are probably here by now. We don't want them to get suspicious." he said. "I'll talk to the president myself today and have him listen to your story."

She nodded and he kissed her one last time before leaving the room.

'And to think, I would never see him sweat.' she thought as she drifted off to sleep again.

"How can you expect me to believe you?" the president asked.

"I never expected you to." Jasmine answered.

It had been a few days since Sephiroth had talked to the president and she was finally summoned by Tseng early that afternoon.

"This story of summoners and then finding out your cousin is apart of the rebel group. Do you know how that makes you look?" the president said.

"A cousin who I believed to be dead for ten years. I'm as shocked as you are. As for the story of the summoners, you will have to decide for yourself if you believe it or not." Jasmine replied.

The president sighed as he got up and walked to the window. "Sephiroth believes your story. One of my best men in SOLDIER. I think the only way for me to believe you is for you to kill your cousin. Prove to me that your allegiance is with us and not with that rebel group."

"I…was going to anyway. For some reason he wants death and he believes that only I can give him that." she said.

He slowly turned and looked at her. "Why does he wish for death?"

"I don't know, but before I kill him I need to find out what happened to him. I…I need to go home and see his mother, my aunt. If he returned home at some point she may know something that happened to him. I also need to confront her…and let her know that I'm about to kill her son." she explained.

"Very well. I will be sending Sephiroth and two Turks with you as well so you don't run off." the president said. "Your house arrest is lifted, but don't leave Midgar until it's time for you to go. Give me the ordinances of the island and I'll arrange a ship to take you there."

"Do you know how glad I am that you are innocent in all of this mess?" Reno asked from the front passenger seat of the car.

He and Tseng had been the Turks who were assigned to escort her to the island. Through the investigation, it was found that there were no suspicious activities on her computers and that her cat had not been used to carry secret messages. Her necklace had also been returned to her under the condition that she would be closely monitored while she had it.

"I'm not completely out of the woods yet Reno." Jasmine answered.

"Yeah, there still is the deal with your cousin. What do you think that you'll find out once you meet with your aunt?" Reno replied.

"I don't know. I just hope that I'll be able to find out what happened to him when he went to the Northern Continent." she answered.

"Why did he go there?" Sephiroth asked, speaking for the first time since the car ride started.

"He went there to stop a group of rebels from releasing havoc on the continents. From what I was told, he was killed in combat." Jasmine answered.

"That was ten years ago?" Tseng asked.

"Almost eleven now." she answered.

"That's right, your birthday is coming up soon. I think we'll end up celebrating it while we're on the island." Reno said.

Jasmine remained silent for the rest of the car ride. They boarded a ship in Junon and it deported around mid afternoon.

"How long will this ride take?" Reno wondered aloud as he stood on the dock with her.

"About three days." she answered.

"Three days?"

"I'll take over watch now Reno." Sephiroth said approaching them.

"Yeah, sure. She's not being very talkative anyways." Reno said as he left.

"Nervous?" Sephiroth asked when Reno was out of sight.

"A little. It's been almost eleven years since I was there last." Jasmine answered.

Sephiroth put a hand to her cheek, making her look at him. "I'll be right there with you."

She smiled at him as he kissed her.

_A/N: I think I'm going to end the chapter there. I'm a little tired from writing and I don't want to get into her going home yet. I just don't have the energy for that right now. I'll try to get another chapter up tomorrow before my night class, but I have some studying I have to get done first, so I can't make any promises. Until the next update, R&R!_


	19. Chapter 18

_Holy crap it's been a while since I last updated. I apologize a million times! I had a test that I had to study for, then my muses just up and left me, dah! They finally came back to me earlier today as I cross stitched. I guess I had to do something a little productive for them to come running back to me. Anyway, I finally got some ideas and I think I have it figured out how I want to go with this chapter. When you see the italics, they were speaking a different language. I couldn't create a different language because I'm not that talented in my writing, lol. Enjoy! Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 18

Sephiroth heard a knock on his cabin door the next morning. He opened his door to see Jasmine standing there.

"I have a little problem and you're taller than the rest of us. Could you possibly give me a hand?"

Curious as to what she needed help with, he gave her a small nod and followed her to her cabin across the hall. When he entered he didn't see anything out of the ordinary and was about to ask her what she needed help with when he saw her looking up in the middle of the room. He followed her gaze and saw the furry mass of her cat up on a rafter.

"I don't know how she managed to get up there. She can't get down and I can't reach her. Could you possibly get her down please?" Jasmine said.

Sephiroth gave a small sigh as he looked around the room to see what he could stand on to get up there. He saw the chair at the desk and pulled it to the middle of the room.

"I forgot that you brought her with you." Sephiroth said as he climbed up on the chair.

"Yeah, I just couldn't leave her alone there, especially after what had happened." she replied as she reached up and took Patches from Sephiroth. "Hopefully we learned our lesson." she added as she looked at her cat.

"Meow."

Jasmine gave her a quick scratch behind the ears before putting her down. She immediately ran to the dresser, jumped up and laid down in the sunbeam that started coming through the window.

"How did she get up there?" Sephiroth asked as he looked back up at the rafter.

"I don't know. She has caps on her claws so she shouldn't have been able to climb up there." she answered.

"Caps?" he asked looking at her.

"Yeah, it's a rubber cap that goes over her claws. She doesn't even know she's wearing them. I really didn't want to declaw her." Jasmine explained.

They turned when they heard a knock to see Reno standing there. "Hey Jaz, we think we found the island if you want to come on deck and have a look."

She gave a small nod and followed the Turk up. She walked with him and Sephiroth to the bow of the ship where Tseng was. She took a shaky breath as she gazed upon the island.

"Yeah, that's it." she said.

"I can't believe that I can't get a signal out here." Tseng said as he put his handset away.

"Duh Tseng we're out in the middle of nowhere." Jasmine said, earning her a look from him.

"So, how do we get to where we need to go?" Reno asked.

"Since we don't have a chocobo at our disposal on this part of the island, we walk." Jasmine answered as she picked up her bag and cat carrier.

"Great, exercise. Just what we need." Reno said as he slung his bag over his shoulder and started to follow Jasmine.

"How can you be so sure of where you're going?" Tseng asked after about an hour of walking.

"It's amazing how long things can stay with you." Jasmine said as they approached a small stream.

"Be sure to fill your canteens." Sephiroth said as he followed her to the stream.

"Yeah, yeah." Reno said as he dropped his bag and sat down next to it.

"Do as he says. We still have quite a ways to walk from here." Jasmine said as she filled her own.

"Say Jaz, could you be a real sweetheart and-"

"Do it yourself Reno." she said as she finished filling her second canteen.

"Let's take a break here." Jasmine said.

"Ugh, how much longer?" Reno whined as he plopped down in the tall grass.

"City sissy." Jasmine said as she checked on Patches.

"What did you call me?" Reno asked.

"You heard me." she answered.

"Bitch."

"Jackass."

"Will you two knock it off?" Tseng asked as he loosened and took off his tie. His jacket soon followed.

Sephiroth spared the two an amused smile before turning back to the open field. Jasmine turned to the direction he was looking after she finished checking on her cat.

"I remember racing my shadow through fields like this." Jasmine said.

Sephiroth turned, giving her a disregarding look when she spoke.

"You used to race your own shadow?" Reno asked, trying to contain his laughter.

"I was six, give me a break." she replied.

"You shouldn't tease her for having a childhood Reno, as short as it was." Sephiroth said.

"I'm sure she can bless us with more stories later. I think we should focus on moving on right now." Tseng said.

"I agree." Jasmine said as she stood up.

No sooner had she and Reno stood up, they were suddenly surrounded by six men. They had various weapons, but Sephiroth was thankful that none of them had any firearms. Reno was about to go for his weapon when he caught Jasmine's eye. She was shaking her head at him. He gave her a questioning look, but obeyed.

"_State your purpose here."_ one man with black hair demanded.

"_I am returning after almost eleven years." _Jasmine answered.

The man gave her a surprised, but confused look. "You speak it?"

"Yes, I speak the language. I'm Jasmine, and I've returned." she replied as she held up her jewel.

The man gave the signal to the others to lower their weapons. "Who are these men?"

"Friends and colleagues." she answered.

He gave her a nod then turned to one of his men. "Go grab the chocobos." He then turned his attention back to her. "We'll escort you to the town."

"We would greatly appreciate that." Jasmine answered.

"I'm sorry about ambushing you like that. We didn't know who you were and if you friends or not. Seeing your eyes now I know Jasmine." the man explained.

Jasmine studied his eyes for a moment then smiled. "James."

"You remembered." he replied with a smile.

"How can I forget those baby browns?" she asked as she embraced him. "This is Tseng, Reno and Sephiroth. Guys this is James, a childhood friend." she introduced after releasing him.

Everybody nodded to each other in acknowledgement, then Reno brought their attention back to the man leading four chocobos towards the group.

"White chocobos. They're supposed to be a legend." Tseng said.

"The main continents made them a legend after they forgot how to breed them." Jasmine said.

"They breed white naturally in the wild here though." James said. "Did you want to ride or just use them for carrying your luggage?"

"We've got legs we'll use them." Jasmine replied much to Reno's dismay.

"Luggage then." James said. "Are you going home?"

"No, not yet. I have to see Aunt Janet." she answered.

James nodded in understanding.

"Wow, time really has forgotten this town." Reno mused as they walked through town.

"The only place that I've ever seen that came close to having coble stone streets was Kalm." Tseng said.

"Yeah, it really hasn't changed since I left." Jasmine said.

"Where does you aunt live?" Sephiroth asked.

"Outside of town, on the other side." she answered.

"Why are we carrying our bags on our own now? Why not all the way there?" Reno asked.

"Unless you have a cart that needs to be pulled, chocobos aren't allowed in town. They can create a real mess when startled." Jasmine explained looking at Reno, who was giving her a glum look. "It's not too much farther, I promise. You need the exercise anyway."

True to her word it was only about twenty minutes before they finally reached a two story house outside of town. As they approached they saw a young girl with light brown hair and a light green sundress playing in front of the house.

"Marie?" Jasmine asked as they approached her.

"Yes. Who are you?" she asked with a look of worry on her features.

"You wouldn't remember me Marie, I'm Jasmine." she explained. "The last time I saw you, you were this big." she added holding up her hands a little over a foot apart.

"Get away from her!"

Everybody was able to jump out of the way in time to the knife that was thrown in their direction and lodge itself in a tree that wasn't to far behind them. Jasmine narrowed her eyes at it as she walked a few steps towards the tree. She grabbed the handle of the knife and pulled it out and looked to the young lady on the porch. She looked like Marie, but older. She had light brown hair, but was a little darker than Marie's. She was wearing blue jeans, a light yellow tank top and was bare foot.

"This is just great Willow! I give this to you as a gift and then you try and kill me with it! That's the thanks I get? You're welcome!" Jasmine yelled at her.

"Gift? No, it can't be." Willow said as she approached her. She looked in her eyes then grabbed Jasmine's left arm and looked at the underside of it. She ran her finger along the light thin scar that was there.

"There's you evidence that it's really me. Happy now?" Jasmine said.

She was answered with a slap to the face from Willow. "You've been gone for nearly eleven years and now you decide to come back? What made you change your mind?"

The three men watched in stunned silence as Jasmine's temper flared. "It's not like it was my choice to leave in the first place! If I could have stayed here, Willow I would have! He forced me to leave here!"

Willow sighed. "Your right, I'm sorry. Come inside."

"Why can't you talk to me about it?" Willow asked.

Jasmine was really thankful that she decided to bring Patches with her. She was keeping Marie busy in the other room and she didn't want her to hear this conversation that she was having with Willow.

"I told you, this really concerns your mother more than it does you. I'll explain when she gets back." Jasmine said.

"Well, she's in a meeting with the elders right now. I don't know how long she will be. Sometimes those meetings can go on for days." Willow explained then gave Jasmine a sly look. "In the meantime we could-"

"No. I'm not fighting you so forget it." Jasmine said.

Willow sighed. "Fine, be that way."

"Anyway, we had a hard day and I think we should be showed to our rooms." Jasmine said.

"Preferably up on the second floor." Tseng said.

"Oh, so nobody can get to her. I see your point, no problem." Willow said.

Jasmine sighed as she put her bags down in her room. She went to the window to look out, but she couldn't see anything due to the tree that was there. She turned to the door to see Willow standing there.

"Your old room when you stayed here. Remember?" Willow said.

"Yeah." Jasmine replied.

"Dinner will be ready in a couple of hours." Willow said.

"Thanks."

Willow gave her a small smile before leaving the doorway. Jasmine sighed as she turned back to the window.

_A/N: Man, this chapter took me forever to write. It could have gone a couple of ways and I had to decide how I wanted it to go. I'm happy with how it turned out so far. Hopefully I won't be leaving you guys hanging for very long. It's coming to the end of the semester for me and it usually can get pretty stressful for me, so I may not be able to update as often as I would like. I won't forget about this story so please bear with me. R&R!_


	20. Chapter 19

_I'm so sorry for leaving you hanging again. I got busy with school again and I just didn't have a whole lot of time to write. I have Thanksgiving week off from school, so I should be able to get some writing done. I may not write at all on Thanksgiving because I'll be spending it with my family. Anytime before then and afterwards, I should be able to get some chapters up. Enjoy! Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 19

"I haven't had a homemade meal like that in a long time." Reno said as he stepped out onto the front porch.

"Same goes for me. Willow was always a great cook." Jasmine replied.

She had been on the front porch since the early evening, watching the sun set in the horizon.

Reno looked at her. "Glad to be back home?"

"Yeah. I forgot how peaceful it is here." Jasmine answered. "Anyway, be sure to get some rest. Tomorrow we'll be helping out with chores."

"What?"

"We're staying here, we can help out." Jasmine said looking at him.

Jasmine had been given the job of cleaning out the stable for the three chocobos that her Aunt Janet had. She had just finished cleaning them and was about to put fresh straw in the stalls when she heard someone walk in. She came out of the last stall to see Sephiroth approaching her.

"How's the arrogation system?" Jasmine asked.

"It's fine. The garden is getting the water it needs from the nearby stream." Sephiroth answered. "Willow asked me to come and help you finish up in here."

"Well you missed the mess of cleaning up. I was just about to put in some fresh str-"

"Shiiiiiiit!"

"I told him not to go into that pen." Jasmine said as she ran out of the stable.

Sephiroth followed her outside towards the pen. They saw Reno running from the green chocobo Wind, the black chocobo Midnight and the white chocobo Star. He was high tailing it to the fence, but Jasmine knew he wouldn't make it in time. She put two fingers in her mouth and whistled in a loud high pitch, causing the chocobos to stop in their tracks. They then turned and ran in the other direction. Reno jumped over the fence and stopped to catch his breath. He looked up when Jasmine approached him.

"Are you going to continue to be an idiot, or are you going to start listening to me?" Jasmine asked.

"I think I'll start listening." Reno said when he caught his breath a little.

"What happened? We heard yelling." Willow said as she approached them with Tseng from the other side of the house.

"Oh, nothing. Just Reno running from inside the pen after he made the chocobos angry." Jasmine explained as she walked back to the stable. "He can haul water for the chocobos."

"And try to stay out of trouble this time." Willow said as she handed Reno a bucket.

With six people doing the chores, they were done just after lunch. With the extra time that they had, she caught up with Willow while playing with Marie and Patches in the living room of the house. She learned that the island really hadn't changed since she left, but it had been a particularly dry season that year. Everybody was worried that if rain didn't come soon, the farms and crops wouldn't do so well. It was Willow who decided to change the subject.

"Soooo, which one of them is a prospective husband?"

"What?"

"Well, you brought three men with you. One of them is bound to become your husband soon. I want to know which one it is." Willow said.

"Oh for the love of-"

"Or, are all of them your husband?" Marie asked.

"None of us are dating her." Tseng answered as he passed through the room.

"Then what's with all of the guys?" Willow asked.

"It's not like you think. I got into a little trouble on the main continents. I work for a company and those three are here to make sure I don't turn my back on the company. That's it." Jasmine explained.

"I don't think that's all though." Willow said, giving her a teasing smile.

"That's all, the end." Jasmine said as she stood up and left the room.

'Such a great night.' Jasmine thought as she climbed down the tree outside her room.

She landed gingerly at the base of the tree and started off to the back of the house.

"Lovely night for a walk."

Jasmine stopped dead and looked to the side of the house to see Sephiroth leaning against it.

"Where do you think your going?" he asked.

"No where far. I was just going to take a small walk and come back." she explained. She seemed to think for a moment before she grabbed his hand. "Come on, I want to show you something."

Sephiroth gave a small sigh, but he allowed himself to be led. They passed through the trees of the wooded area in the back of the house to the stream that was being used to water the garden. She continued to lead him upstream where it became bigger. They came to a small clearing to where a waterfall was. Jasmine didn't stop like he expected her to. She continued to lead him towards the waterfall, and eventually behind it to where a cave was.

"This is what you wanted to show me?" Sephiroth asked, a little confused.

"No, it's farther inside. That is, if you can keep a secret." Jasmine answered.

Sephiroth made a move of pulling an invisible zipper across his lips, to say that he wouldn't say anything. She smiled and waved at him to follow her. They continued to the back of the cave then squeezed through a small opening to the left. They followed that path for a while then squeezed through another opening to the right. When they emerged from there, they were in a room of crystallized mako.

"As far as I know, nobody else but me found this place. You're the first person I've ever showed this place to." she said as she turned to him. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Crystallized mako is always beautiful in its natural form." Sephiroth said approaching her.

"I'm glad you think so too." Jasmine replied as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"What is with Willow thinking that you're dating one of us?" Sephiroth asked as he gazed down at her.

"Heard about that, huh? That's just how she is. I would rather that she not know about us yet. If we tell her, she won't keep her mouth shut." she answered.

"Very well, we won't tell her." he said as he leaned down and captured her lips with his.

_A/N: I'm going to go ahead and leave the chapter there for now. I feel that this chapter was a little blah and short, but it should get interesting again soon. I have some cool plans for the upcoming chapters, well I think that their cool plans. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this overdue update, R&R!_


	21. Chapter 20

_Hey everybody. I'm waiting for my younger brother to get home from work so we can play a game, so I'm going to update with a chapter until he gets home. We usually don't spend a whole lot of quality time together, so I'm really looking forward to this. I'm babbling again, go ahead and read the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 20

Reno and Tseng got up early the next morning. They couldn't sleep in due to a bell that was ringing in the distance. They stepped out on the front porch into the morning light.

"What's up with the bell?" Reno whined as he stepped out onto the porch.

"It means that mom's coming home soon." Marie answered.

"I don't understand." Tseng said.

"It's simple really." Willow said from the rocker on the porch. "The bell rings whenever the elders are done with their meeting or have come to a decision. Our mother was in a meeting with them so she'll be coming home soon."

Reno nodded then looked around. "Wait, where's Jaz?"

"She went to go see her parent's and baby sister's grave." Sephiroth said from the part of the porch he was leaning on, causing Reno to jump a mile in the air.

"Jeez, you need to make more noise. I didn't see you over there." Reno said.

"You let her go alone?" Tseng asked.

"I'm sure she won't go far." Sephiroth replied.

Jasmine was standing at the graves of her family. She had taken some flowers and had put them in front of the tombstones of her loved ones. Her mother Jenna Winslow, her father Michael Winslow and her baby sister Annabelle Winslow. She didn't know how long she stood there, gazing upon the graves but decided it was time to head back when she heard the bells ringing. When the house came into view she could see everyone was on the front porch, plus one extra person. She stopped a moment to see that it really was her before she started running at full speed towards the house.

"Jasmine? Jasmine!" the woman cried as she ran towards her.

Jasmine nearly collided with her in an embrace. "It's been to long Aunt Janet."

Janet pushed her by the shoulders a little. "Look at you, all grown up." She used her fingers to brush the tears away that were running freely down Jasmine's cheeks then hugged her again. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too. I missed you, Willow, Marie, everyone and everything. I missed this island so much." Jasmine replied.

"I'll bet you did. It's been nearly eleven years. You'll be staying here now, right?" Janet asked facing her.

"I…can't yet. I have unfinished business to do on the main continents. I came here because I needed to speak to you about something very important. It's about Daniel." she explained.

Janet looked to the three men standing on the porch then back to Jasmine. "Is that why those three are here with you?"

"Partially, yes."

"Very well then. We'll go into the drawing room where the five of us can talk more privately." Janet said.

"And that's why we're here." Jasmine said as she finished explaining to Janet what had happened and why she was there. The three men remained silent during her explanation.

"It does seem that he wants you to kill him." Janet said, bowing her head.

"I want to know why. Why does he want death?" Jasmine said.

"You recall when he left years ago?" Janet asked looking up at her.

Jasmine nodded. "Yes."

"He did come back before you were taken from here. Nobody recognized him due to the helmet and mask that he wore. He only revealed his face to me. He said that they did catch up with the rebels and they ended up fighting. Daniel was the only one who survived. He told me that he had nightmares and was in so much emotional pain that he couldn't stand to be alive anymore. He vowed to find a way to die so he could be with his close friends again." Janet explained.

"Then why have Jasmine kill him?" Tseng asked.

"It's honorable to have the leader of the summoners to kill the one that has much pain." Janet answered.

"There is nothing honorable about killing or death." Jasmine said as she got up to leave the room.

"You couldn't tell Daniel that Jasmine. Please, take his pain away when you return to the main continents." Janet said as Jasmine left the room.

Willow wasn't happy with the turn of events that involved her brother, but she didn't blame Jasmine. She sympathized with her instead. She understood what Jasmine had to do, but also understood her apprehension.

While she was there, Jasmine agreed to go through the three trials that the elders would put her through before she could become the leader. Jasmine had been holing up in Janet's library researching what the leaders of the past had gone through, trying to get herself ready. Jasmine soon found out that task could never be done.

"I give up." Jasmine said as she threw herself onto the couch in the living room.

"I tried to tell you that was impossible for you to study up on." Janet said as she knitted in her rocker from across the room.

"What kind of tasks will she have to face?" Sephiroth asked.

"The second and last task is up to the elders and nobody knows what they will choose. Traditionally, her parents would set the first task, but since their gone that decision will be up to me." Janet explained.

Willow jumped from her seat and ran to her mother. "Mom, I know the perfect first task to put her through."

"Oh no." Jasmine moaned as she covered her eyes with her arm.

"What do you mean a fight?"

"I meant what I said Reno." Jasmine answered. "Willow requested it and Aunt Janet is allowing it."

"So you'll be facing off against your own cousin. Do you think you'll be able to win it?" Reno asked.

"If she's anything like she was when we were younger, then I may be able to still beat her." Jasmine said. "But still, I would rather be prepared."

"You got it." Reno replied as he took her lead and went into a battle stance.

They spent the rest of the evening and the next two days training for the upcoming battle.

_A/N: I know what you all are thinking. Noooo, continue on. I'm sorry, you're going to have to wait. I'm a little tired of writing and my Nightmare Before Christmas game is calling to me. I want it to stop screaming at me and I don't want it's voice to get tired now, lol. So I'm going to play that while I wait for my brother to get home. Stay patient and I will update again when I have the time, maybe tomorrow evening but I can't guarantee it. R&R! _


	22. Chapter 21

_Holy cow, I haven't updated since before Thanksgiving. I think I left you hanging longer this time than I did the last time. I'm very, very, __very__, sorry! I had a 13 page research paper I had to write and I have to study this week for finals, so I'm going to update with this chapter so there's something new for you to read while I study. I may update a little this week, but I may not get back to this story until after my finals next week. Enough with the rambling, enjoy the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title. _

Chapter 21

Jasmine had woken up early that morning. She was in the back practicing her kata, since Reno was unavailable to help her train. She had worn him out the past two days, and she didn't want to ask Tseng to help her practice since she didn't know if he knew how to fight. She knew he knew how to use a hand gun, but she didn't feel right asking him to help her to train. She didn't have her sword with her so Sephiroth couldn't help her train either. That was the reason why Sephiroth watched her fight imaginary enemies from the doorway to the back yard.

"You love her don't you?"

Sephiroth turned to see Jasmine's aunt approaching him. "I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"Oh, I think you do." Janet said giving him a smile.

"How do you know we harbor feelings for each other?" he asked.

"With the experience I have in love and the way you look at her at times, I can tell." she explained. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone since that is the way you two want it right now. Just don't hurt her. If you do and Willow finds out, she will hunt you down."

"I could never do such a thing to Jasmine." Sephiroth said looking back to her. "She's an amazing woman."

"That she is." Janet said also looking to her.

"But what is she doing right now? I don't understand what good can come from fighting imagined enemies." he said.

"It's called kata. All of us who learn how to fight also learn kata. In order to train the body you also need to train the mind and soul. Kata helps you to do that when you don't have anyone to help you to train for an event. The fight between Willow and Jasmine is this evening and they both need to prepare for it. They can't do it together since they are facing each other, but kata can help them to train." Janet explained.

"We don't have anything like that from where we're from." Sephiroth replied.

"What do you do on the main lands?" Janet asked.

"The company that we work for has a training room. In that training room is a virtual reality and we use that to fight against to help us train. We even go up against each other to help with our training." he explained.

Janet sighed. "I just wish that she had learned to use the sword. It would help her in the long run."

"She does. She learned how to use the sword recently." Sephiroth said.

Janet gave him a thoughtful look before turning and going back into the house. Sephiroth watched Janet disappear into the house then turned to continue watching Jasmine practice her kata.

Later that early evening, everybody gathered in the clearing to the east of the small town. It was the old training field that had been there for as long as Jasmine could remember and remembered having her first fighting lessons in that clearing. She was surprised that she wasn't nervous for the upcoming battle that the whole town would be watching. She jolted herself out of her thoughts as one of the elders stepped to the middle of the clearing to speak.

"Our beloved Jasmine has returned to us." He paused to let the cheers and some boos die down before continuing. "We are here to witness her first trial as her first step into leadership and I would appreciate you giving both of our warriors the respect they deserve no matter the outcome."

He returned to the edge of the clearing with the rest of the elders and James stepped into the middle of the clearing.

"Will our two warriors please step forward?"

Jasmine walked into the clearing and Willow stepped in from the opposite side, stopping within five feet from the edge of the clearing from which they emerged.

"On this end we have the wonderful and lovely brunette of our town. Give it up for Willow!" James announced.

"Show off!" someone was heard among the cheering.

"And on this end is our lovely dark haired soon to be leader. Give a hand to Jasmine!" James announced.

"We don't even know if she's the real one!" the same person hollered among the cheers.

"Warriors get set, ready." James did an about face and ran for the edge of the clearing. "Fiiiight!"

That was when Willow charged for Jasmine.

"Same charge, same Willow." Jasmine sighed.

People in the crowd started to talk amongst each other when Jasmine didn't move, while others hollered and cheered. Jasmine ignored the crowd and concentrated on Willow. When she was close enough to land a blow to Jasmine, she side stepped her, making Willow fall forward.

Willow quickly got up and came at Jasmine again throwing punches and kicks that she was able to block with what seemed like ease. It was enough to make Jasmine start to smile a little.

"Will you stop smirking? It's distracting!" Willow bellowed as she tried her best to land a blow to Jasmine.

"Can't help it." she replied.

That was when Jasmine saw her window of opportunity. Willow stopped for a split second as if to change her strategy and that was when Jasmine started to make her attacks at Willow. Willow quickly went onto the defensive and was barley able to keep up with Jasmine. Willow gave a cry of desperation and did a cart wheel to escape from Jasmine and run into the wooded area that the crowd wasn't standing near. It wound around the clearing a little bit, but not too much. Jasmine knew that Willow was going to try to sneak in at her from the trees. She didn't pursue her inside but decided to use a weapon that always got at Willow.

"This is going to be hard to find her! She's a toothpick of a girl!" Jasmine shouted and waited for Willow to emerge from the trees. She didn't have to wait long. Willow emerged almost immediately.

"I am not a toothpick!" she yelled.

Willow yelled again as Jasmine charged at her. She blocked all of her attacks, but was barely able to keep up with Jasmine. She finally saw an opening and did a spinning kick, causing Willow to fall back a little, landing hard on her back that knocked the wind out of her. She was trying to catch her breath when Jasmine was standing over her.

"You never learned then and you didn't learn now. You should never fall for the taunts that an enemy may use against you." Jasmine said.

"You're not as much of a saint as you think you are." Willow said as she grabbed her knife from her belt and prepared to throw it at Jasmine.

"Enough!" yelled the elder that had spoken before.

Jasmine quickly took a few steps back as Willow sat up. She glared at the elder as he approached him.

"Why are you stopping us now? We haven't even started yet!" Willow complained.

"That may be true, but if we let you continue someone will be buried." he replied then looked to Jasmine. "Well done. We will give you your next trial in a few days. I suggest that you use that time to recuperate and make up with your cousin."

Jasmine gave the elder a nod with a small smile.

"Tell me, has Willow always been that competitive?" Sephiroth asked.

He and Jasmine snuck off to the cave of crystallized mako late that night.

"Yes she has, for as long as I can remember." Jasmine answered turning to him.

"I have to admit, you handled yourself well out there." he said brushing away some strands of hair from her face.

"That's the biggest reason why I don't like fighting her. When she gets competitive she gets dangerous. It was a good thing the elder stopped us when he did." Jasmine replied.

"I'm glad he did." Sephiroth said as he grabbed her hips and gently brought her closer to him.

Jasmine put her arms around his neck so she could pull him closer for a deeper kiss.

_A/N: I have to stop it there since I have to go to my night class soon. I may update after studying through the week, but I can't make any promises. You'll have to be prepared for no updates until after my finals next Wednesday. Until my next update, R&R!_


	23. Chapter 22

_Hello readers, I'm back with another chapter (finally). I didn't forget about you! I'm sorry for making you wait for so long. I really had to concentrate on studying for my finals and then I got started on a new game. I should be able to get at least one chapter up a day now that my finals are out of the way and I'm on Christmas break. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 22

The next morning and early afternoon, Willow had made it her mission to stay away from Jasmine. So far she was successful. It really didn't bother Jasmine because she knew that Willow would come around and they would be buddies again. She would have to go the pace that Willow had set and wait.

"Jasmine!" Tseng called from the back stoop of the house. 'Where could she have run off to now?' he thought to himself. "Jasmine!"

"Will you stop yelling like an overstuffed shirt? I'm up here."

Tseng looked up in the tree that was to the left of the stoop and saw Jasmine sitting on one of the branches. He watched her as she jumped down from her perch.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Do you know how much longer this is going to take? I do have other duties to attend to back at Shinra." Tseng said.

"It really depends on the elders. I wouldn't try to rush them along. If you do they will only go slower to teach you patience. Hopefully this will be over in a week, no longer than two." Jasmine replied.

"Well, I made arrangements with James to help me get back to the ship. I'm going to use the radio there to get in touch with headquarters to let them know that this is going to take longer than was originally planned. I should be back no later than tomorrow." Tseng said.

"Okay."

"Don't cause to much trouble for Reno." he said.

"I wouldn't dreeeaaam of it." Jasmine replied with a smile.

Tseng sighed but didn't press the matter further. Instead he turned and walked back into the house. Jasmine sighed as she watched Tseng disappear back inside. She loved Tseng and thought that he was a good guy and all, but sometimes he could act like… how did she put it before? Oh yeah, an overstuffed shirt. But he had a good heart. She sighed as she also made her way inside to see what everyone else was up to.

When she entered the living room, it was empty. She assumed that Tseng had already left for the ship, and as for everyone else. She had no clue where they were. She was about to make her way upstairs to the library when she was called into the drawing room by Janet.

"Yes?"

"I heard from Sephiroth that you learned how to fight with a sword. Is that correct?" Janet asked.

"Mm-hm."

"I think that you're ready for this then." Janet said gesturing to the long black case on the table.

Jasmine approached the table and opened the case. She lifted the sword and unsheathed it.

"Do you know what that is?" Janet asked.

"My mother's double bladed sword." Jasmine answered.

"Your memory serves you well. If you look here." Janet pointed to the switch near the hilt. "It turns into two separate swords."

"She truly was ahead of her time." Jasmine mused.

"Now you know where you get your smarts from." Janet said.

Jasmine smiled as she re-sheathed the sword and placed it back onto the table.

"You should start training with it." Janet said.

"I'll talk to Sephiroth about that later." Jasmine said. "Where is everyone?"

"Reno is upstairs in the library. He said he wanted to learn about our history so I sent him up there. Willow and Marie ran into town on an errand for me. Tseng left for the ship, and as for Sephiroth, I don't know where he is." Janet explained.

"Hmm. I'll go bug Reno then." Jasmine said then made her way towards the door.

He was right where Janet said he was. He was sitting at the table in there reading one of the many volumes that could be found in there. At least he was trying to read it.

"Patches, you know you're putting my legs to sleep." Reno said.

"You shouldn't have let her jump up in the first place." Sephiroth said momentarily turning from the shelves to look at him.

"But you're such a great heater."

The two men looked to the doorway to see Jasmine standing there.

"Hey Jazzie Jaz. Do you mind?" Reno asked as he pointed to the cat in his lap.

"But she's asleep." Jasmine replied.

Reno narrowed his eyes at her. He didn't get a chance to comment.

"Jasmine, do you mind helping us find the volume on the summons?" Sephiroth asked.

"Sure." Jasmine said climbing the ladder next to him. "That would be right…here!"

Jasmine grabbed the book and climbed back down the ladder. She placed the book onto the table and began flipping pages. Reno finally shooed Patches from his lap so he could get a better look at the book on the table. Sephiroth stood next her as she continued to flip through the book.

"Here is where it starts talking about the summons." Jasmine said stopping at a particular page in the middle of the book. "You'll just be reading about what you already know about them."

"I've never seen summons together like that." Reno said pointing to a picture on one of the pages.

On the page Hades and Ifrit were standing facing each other.

"That is because you were most likely in battle when you summoned them." Jasmine replied.

"Why are they facing each other like that? It's like they are opposing each other." Reno said.

"Summons of the same sex never stood next to each other when they are not in battle because it symbolized homosexuality to them. If they are of the opposite sex they can stand side by side. If they are in battle, the summons of the same sex can stand side by side for more attacking force against their opponent, but that is the only time they do so. If they are to converse with each other, they stand facing each other unless they are of opposite sex." Jasmine explained.

"And this here?" Sephiroth asked pointing to a ball of white light.

"She is also a summon. We don't know who she is or what she does. All records we have of her have been lost and nobody has been able to successfully summon her." Jasmine answered.

"How do you know that summon is a she?" Reno asked.

"I already explained it to you Reno." Jasmine answered.

"How do you know that Ifrit isn't gay?" Reno challenged.

"Because it's against nature. People of the same sex cannot make babies together. It's the same for summons." Jasmine said.

Reno cocked his head to the side for a moment before replying. "I guess that makes sense."

Jasmine rolled her eyes at him before turning to Sephiroth. "Anyway, Aunt Janet gave me my mother's sword. We can start up on training again whenever you're ready."

"We'll do that later when it's cooler out there." Sephiroth replied.

Jasmine nodded then turned back to the book sitting on the table. Childhood memories flooded her mind.

_A/N: I think that's a good stopping point there. Hopefully some comic relief in this chapter as well as some of my personal tidbit on the summons. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to put up an interesting chapter for you to enjoy. R&R!_


	24. Chapter 23

_First off, I'm sorry for leaving you hanging again. I know I said I would try to get at least one chapter up a day and I haven't kept that promise. So I will explain. Last week I had this chapter done, but I lost the internet so I couldn't get it up. Then my computer acted up and I couldn't log into Fanfiction. Then on Christmas Eve my older sister and brother-in-law was over and I spent Christmas with my parents. Sunday after work I didn't feel like doing anything because I was tired from work and I didn't sleep very well the night before. So again, I'm sorry for the hold up and I hope to keep my promise. Hope you had a Merry Christmas! On with the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 23

When Willow and Marie returned home later that afternoon they heard metal clashing against metal. Willow sent Marie inside to tell their mother that they were home and she went around to the back to see what was going on. When she got there she saw Jasmine and Sephiroth fighting with their swords. She recognized Jasmine's sword immediately but she was amazed at how long Sephiroth's sword was and wondered how he was able to fight with it, let alone control it.

She leaned against a tree as she continued to watch them. She found that she was slightly pleased when it seemed that Jasmine was having a little difficulty keeping up with Sephiroth. He did have a lot of speed and strength than Jasmine did and it made her happy that there was someone who could take her on.

The swords clashed again and Sephiroth was able to twirl her sword out of her grip and sent it flying. It landed a few yards away, the blade sticking into the ground. Sephiroth went into a lunge at Jasmine, but she was able to cart wheel out of the way. She quickly got to her sword and turned in time to block another attack from Sephiroth. He pushed her back a bit causing her to lose her balance momentarily. She got her balance back as he came onto her with a string of attacks, which she was barely able to block. As she continued to move backwards blocking attacks, she lost her footing and again Sephiroth twirled her sword out of her hands. His sword came to a stop a few inches from her throat after she landed.

"This is where it would have been game over for you had I not stopped the simulation in the training room that day." Sephiroth said as he gazed down at Jasmine keeping his blade near her throat.

She gazed up at him and couldn't help but smile. "I understand now, why they call you the Great Sephiroth."

He returned her smile and lowered his weapon. He then extended his hand to her which she took and he helped her to her feet.

"Oh, come on! That's it? No taunting or anything, just fighting?"

Jasmine shot an annoyed look to her cousin before retrieving her weapon from the grass a little ways off.

"The only time that a Soldier in training gets taunted is when they need to learn not to fall for it. Jasmine already showed that she doesn't need that kind of training." Sephiroth stated.

"Apparently, you still need to go through it." Jasmine said facing Willow as she sheathed her sword.

Willow charged at her and brought out her knife as she came upon Jasmine. She grabbed Willow's wrist and twisted it, causing the knife to fall to the ground. Then Jasmine quickly took a hold of Willow's upper arm as she brought her lower arm behind her. Then Jasmine gave her a shove causing her to fall into the shallow creek. Then she quickly grabbed the knife before Willow could make a grab for it.

"Give me the damn knife." Willow demanded.

Jasmine turned to her. "Not until you cool off. I'm not going to take this shit from you Willow. You have no right to be angry with me because you lost a fight against me. You really need to grow up."

She turned away from her and Willow gave a cry of anger as she stood up and lunged at Jasmine. She landed a kick at Willow causing her to land back into the creek.

"You stay in there until you cool off!" Jasmine demanded, then turned and walked away.

"Are you still a midwife here?" Jasmine asked while sitting on the front porch bench with Janet that evening.

Reno casually leaned against the wall, saying to catch some fresh air.

"Yep." she replied with a smile.

"Anybody I know have kids yet?" Jasmine asked.

"Mm-hm."

"Who?"

"James and Lila." Janet answered.

Jasmine's mouth fell open in complete shock. "Those two got married?"

"Yep, about a year ago when she found out she was pregnant." Janet answered.

"I can't believe those two got married." Jasmine mused.

"You know what they say, opposites attract." Reno said.

"No, birds of a feather flock together with those two. They were so much alike they hated each other when we were kids." Jasmine said. "Do they have a boy or a girl?"

"They have twin girls actually." Janet said. "And they're a handful."

"I'll bet." Jasmine said.

Nobody had a chance to say anything else. Marie came running up to the porch from the way of the town.

"Jasmine, it's from the elders." Marie said handing her an enveloped note.

She went into the house where there was light so she could read the letter. The three people followed her into the living room.

"What is it?" Marie asked impatiently.

"It's about my second task." Jasmine answered.

"What did they decide on?" asked Janet.

"I'm going into Chrystal Cavern…to try and contact a summon or fallen warrior from the past. Time is still to be announced." Jasmine answered.

Sometime after ten that night a teensy knock was heard from Jasmine's bedroom door. She had a hint of who that could have been.

"It's unlocked Willow."

Sure enough her head poked into her room followed by the rest of her body. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior recently."

"That's what I figured." Jasmine replied turning away from the window. "But you're not getting your knife back yet."

"I'm not asking for it back. I just wanted to apologize for my behavior and hope that our relationship isn't damaged too much because of me." Willow said.

"It's not." Jasmine assured her. "But if you continue to do this you will lose my trust in you. Especially when you're a member of my council."

Willow's eyes went wide with shock. Her mouth moved, but no words came out.

"Since I can have at least one blood relative on my council you are the first on my list, but if your behavior keeps up I may have to rethink my decision and I don't want to have to do that." Jasmine answered her unspoken question.

"Jasmine, I don't know what to say." Willow said finding her voice.

"Show me that I can trust you, then say that you accept." she replied.

Willow nodded with a smile, and then left Jasmine's room. Jasmine turned back to the stars she was looking at. She couldn't help but smile herself.

_A/N: I'm going to stop the chapter there. I want to think over the second task a little before I post it. I should have it done and up tomorrow. Dinner is just about ready so I have to go. Again I apologize for leaving you hanging and I hope that this chapter was satisfactory for you interesting wise. Enough babbling, R&R!_


	25. Chapter 24

_Okay, here's the next chapter just like I promised. I did a little bit of thinking about the second task and this is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 24

The next morning Jasmine had been given the chore to clean up the chocobo stable again. She had taken the three chocobos out to the fenced area that her aunt had before she started to clean out the stalls. The morning was uneventful while she cleaned and she wasn't bothered so the job went quickly for her. She was laying down fresh straw when she heard someone approaching her. She didn't bother to look to see who it was since it was probably Willow or Sephiroth.

"Jasmine, I want to see if you recognize someone."

'James? I wasn't expecting that.' she thought as she stopped working and came out of the stall. "James." She acknowledged then saw the other man with him. "Jeremiah?"

"See? She does know who you are." James said looking to the other man.

He narrowed his eyes at Jasmine. "She could have been told who I was before you brought me to her. I'm not convinced."

"Jeremiah."

"Don't bother James. If he doesn't believe who I am, then he may never will." Jasmine said.

Jasmine turned her back on them and started to go back to her work. She was shoved into the stall wall by Jeremiah.

"You don't belong on our island. You need to leave."

Jasmine swung her hand, backhanding Jeremiah in the mouth, causing him to step back a little. He turned to James when he heard his muffled snort then punched him.

"What the hell did you do that for?" James asked.

"You let a girl hit me!" Jeremiah yelled.

James then punched Jeremiah causing him to back into Jasmine. She pushed him off of her, he then turned to her and backhanded her. She then punched him causing him to run into James. The rest was a violent blur to her as they exchanged blows to each other. She was able to avoid most of the harder hits the men threw, but it became more of a play fight than anything else. They were punching, backhanding and kicking each other all over the place. Then finally they both landed a good blow to her that she couldn't avoid. They both sent a punch to her at the same time, causing her to stumble back and out of the stable. She landed on her back at the feet of her aunt and an elder.

"Are we interrupting something?" Janet asked.

"No, just getting reacquainted with a childhood friend." Jasmine said with a smile as she stood up and brushed the dust from her clothes.

The two men then came from the stable smiling and laughing a little.

"I'm sorry Jasmine." Jeremiah said.

"Don't be. You had every right to be suspicious of me. It's been nearly eleven years." Jasmine said.

"Jasmine." the elder addressed. "Your second task will be held tomorrow night. You are to be there at nine. Don't be late."

"Yes sir." Jasmine replied.

The elder turned and walked away. Janet looked to the three before following the elder.

"Clean up your mess." she said with a smile.

"Yes ma'am." the three said.

When James had arrived with Jeremiah, Jasmine knew that Tseng was back. Reno was helping Willow haul water from the creek so he didn't know Tseng was back until they returned at noon.

"You didn't happen to be able to tell Rude hi for me did you?" Reno asked.

Jasmine answered before Tseng got a chance to. "Not only that. He also told him of your undying love for him and that you missed him so much and that you couldn't wait to get back to him so you could feel his undying love for you."

Willow spit her drink back into her glass so she could laugh. Reno sent a glare at Jasmine and Tseng put a hand over his eyes as he started laughing.

"That wasn't funny." Reno said through gritted teeth.

"Then why are we laughing?" Jasmine asked.

"I'm not gay." Reno firmly stated.

"I beg to differ. You came out to me a couple of times before Reno." Jasmine said.

"I'm inclined to agree with her on that one Reno." Tseng said.

"I'm not gay." plead Reno.

"Whatever." Jasmine replied with a smile.

Jasmine decided to get some apples for her aunt from the few apple trees that were nearby. It was in a densely wooded area and they would have been missed by her had she not known where to look for them. She was surprised to find Sephiroth there.

"Is this where you have been hiding?" Jasmine asked as she approached him.

"What makes you think I've been hiding?" Sephiroth playfully retaliated.

"I haven't seen you all day." Jasmine answered.

"I've been around, you just haven't been looking hard enough." Sephiroth returned the smile he received. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to get some apples for Aunt Janet." Jasmine answered turning from him to the nearest tree. "Remember the first day of training with the dodging and the tree?" Jasmine asked as she began to climb.

"Yeah." Sephiroth answered.

"This was the tree that I fell from when I broke my arm." she said.

"This is the tree that you 'learned' from?"

"Yep, and I'll never forget that lesson either." she answered.

"So, what did the elder want?" Sephiroth asked.

"My second task is being held tomorrow night at nine." Jasmine answered.

"Chrystal Cavern. Is that the same place you showed me?" he asked.

"No." Jasmine answered jumping to the ground. "This cavern is different from the one I showed you. It's much larger and you can very easily get lost in it if you leave the path."

"This second task can be dangerous then." Sephiroth said.

Jasmine nodded. "Quite dangerous."

At nine the next night, Jasmine showed up at the designated location for her second task. She was stopped by one of the elders before she could enter the cavern.

"Your summoning crystal. There will be no cheating while you're in there." he said.

Jasmine reached behind her neck and unclasped the chain holding her crystal. She unwillingly gave it to the elder.

"You just need to go in there, find someone and if possible talk to them and then come out. That's all you have to do." Janet said.

"Yeah." Jasmine sighed with a nod.

"We'll be waiting here for you." Sephiroth said.

Jasmine gave him a small smile before turning back to the cavern and boldly walked inside.

"I wouldn't have been able to walk in there like that." Marie said.

"It's Jasmine." Willow replied.

Jasmine walked a little past the entrance before grabbing one of the torches to help light her path. She didn't know where she should go or to start but decided to stay on the main path for now. She really didn't need to get lost in that place. People have died in there because they had lost their way. She knew she didn't want to leave the path unless she felt it was absolutely necessary.

She continued on the main path lost in her thought of where she should start when she came upon a huge room full of crystals. She quickly understood the name given to the cavern but she didn't get a chance to silently elaborate on it. Floating above the middle of the shallow pool of water in the middle of the room was a white glowing being. Jasmine took a sharp intake of breath when she saw her. She was incredibly beautiful. She was white giving off her own glow. She was wearing a white suit of armor, but was more feminine. Her hair was also white and floated, as if it wasn't held down by gravity.

The being quickly turned to look at Jasmine. She had piercing blue eyes that seemed to see right to her soul. Jasmine was frozen by her stare but it quickly softened as the woman beckoned for her to come closer. Jasmine quickly and quietly made her way towards the female knight.

"You are the next leader who has been sent to find one of us." the lady said.

It took Jasmine a moment to realize that it wasn't a question. She slowly nodded, unable to find her voice.

The lady gave a warm smile. "You are the first to find me in centuries."

"If I may ask, who are you?" Jasmine finally asked.

"I was known as the White Knight of Light. You may call me White Knight." she answered.

"And, the powers that you possess?" Jasmine asked.

"Now is not the right time for you to know. At the right time you will summon me and I will assist you. That is when you will know." She answered as she started to float up and away from Jasmine.

"How will I know when to summon you?" Jasmine asked as she watched her start to fade away.

"When the time is right, you will know." she answered before disappearing entirely.

'Who is she?' Jasmine wondered as she made her way back towards the entrance of the cavern. It wasn't until she reached everyone else that she realized who it was she had found. "Our lost summon."

"What do you mean our lost summon?" Willow asked.

"The summon we lost all record of. I spoke to her tonight." Jasmine answered.

_A/N: I think that is a good stopping point for this chapter. What do you think of the second task? I really wanted to do something paranormal since I do have interests in that field and I thought that this was cool, so that's what I went with. I didn't want to say anything before because I didn't want to give it away. The fight in the stable, I got inspiration from the movie The Sons of Katie Elder. Any John Wayne fans out there, I would recommend watching this movie. It's a good one. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I should be able to get the next one up tomorrow. R&R!_


	26. Chapter 25

_I'm so sorry for not updating the story yesterday like I said I would. I just had one of those days where you just don't care if you get anything done or not. I just spent the day yesterday just being plain lazy. I'm going to stop babbling now so you can enjoy the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 25

"That was it? That was the only message she gave you?"

"For the hundredth time Willow, yes. That was all she told me. Nothing more, nothing less." Jasmine answered with an air of frustration in her voice.

She had spent most of the morning on the front porch with Willow and Sephiroth talking about the events she had gone through the night before.

"It's just so weird." Willow mused.

"How so?" Sephiroth asked.

"Usually if a summoner meets a summon they have a message for all of us. It's weird that the message was for Jasmine and Jasmine only." Willow answered.

"Yes, quite strange." Jasmine replied.

"Tell me again what she looked like." Willow begged.

Jasmine spared her an annoyed look before looking skyward when thunder rumbled. Dark clouds had been moving in for most of the morning, but it didn't grant them much relief from the heat.

"I hope it cools off some from the rain." Willow said.

"It's still to warm. I don't like this feeling that I have about this upcoming storm." Jasmine said.

"You were always the pessimist." Willow teased.

Sephiroth didn't voice it but he felt that something was bound to happen with the upcoming storm and he couldn't ignore the feeling.

By early afternoon the thunder was joined by lightening that became so violent that it drove everyone inside. Jasmine continued to stand by the window looking out, seemingly to wait for something to happen.

"How are you so certain that something's going to happen?" Tseng said approaching her.

"I have this feeling and I can't shake it. Tseng, if something does happen, I want you to help them get the chocobos loose and help them make it to the village. Could you do that for me?" Jasmine asked, looking to him.

"Where would you be?" Tseng asked.

"As the leader of the summoners, I need to help stop any tragedy from happening in a large proportion if possible. That's where I need to be so I won't be able to help my family here. Please Tseng, can I trust you?" she asked.

Tseng nodded. "Yeah. I'll go brief Reno and Sephiroth and figure out the best course of action for that."

"Thank you Tseng." Jasmine said as he walked away.

She turned back to continue watching the sky. She didn't talk or move, just watched unconsciously holding the crystal on her necklace and waited for the disaster to strike.

"Sicking Tseng on me now?"

Jasmine turned to Sephiroth as he approached her then turned back to the window. "I just asked him for a favor. He's our superior and I knew you would listen to him."

"How do you know I would listen to him?" he asked.

"Because you have a certain respect for him. We all do." she answered, not turning from the window.

"It might not happen, you know." Sephiroth stated looking out the window himself.

"You have the same feeling I do." She said turning to him. "I know you do."

He turned his gaze to her and she found herself captivated by his eyes again. She could stare into them for hours on end and not get bored. They were so unique, but so beautiful at the same time. She was snapped back to reality when thunder cracked. They both looked out the window in time to see a bolt of lightening hit into a field not to far away. She ran to the front porch to get a better look, her worst fears realized. She saw smoke rising from the field. She started to make her way off the porch but her arm was captured.

"I can't let you go out there like that." Sephiroth said turning her to face him.

"Sephiroth, I have to. It's my duty to." She replied.

"I can't-"

"I need you to help my family here get to safety." she said putting her hands on either side of his face. "Please."

"Be careful." he said gazing into her eyes.

She nodded and turned to leave but he grabbed her shoulders to keep her from leaving. Not caring the Reno and Tseng were close by to witness, he captured her lips with his.

"I love you." he said.

"I love you." she returned.

She allowed one last look into his eyes before she turned and ran from the house. She took the shortcut of running through the wooded area to the field, even though she knew it was dangerous, especially during a thunderstorm. She didn't care, she needed to get to that field as quickly as she could. When she reached the top of the hill, she was able to see the entire field. There was nobody there fighting the flames. It had been abandoned due to the severity of the fire.

'Someone, please help.' she thought clutching her crystal.

With that thought her crystal started to shine brightly. Ifrit and Shiva emerged on either side of her. Shiva gathered her magic and casted Diamond Dust while Ifrit gathered his magic and casted Hell Fire. The two magics combined and created enough water to douse the fire completely. They disappeared as soon as their work was finished.

'Thank you.' she thought as her vision blurred then went dark.

Soon after Sephiroth found her lying on the ground unconscious. He picked her up and made his way towards town just as the rain began to pour.

_A/N: I know this is a little on the short side, but this chapter went a lot better than I thought it would go. It's probably my favorite chapter so far. I knew I wanted to do some kind of disaster like this since I made the decision that she would go home for a while. I don't know how lazy I will be tomorrow with it being New Years Eve, but I should be able to update before I go to work. I may not update again till Sunday so I can enjoy New Years Eve. Still haven't decided yet. R&R!_


	27. Chapter 26

_Hi, I'm back and I know I'm a day late. I hope everyone had a happy new year, and before I forget Happy New Year! Let me tell ya, it was a long weekend. I would know I worked it, ugh! That was the main reason why I didn't update at all this weekend. I didn't feel like it after dealing with people all new years. Enough of my complaining, onto the next chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 26

When Jasmine opened her eyes, she was looking at a ceiling light. It took her eyes a few moments to adjust before it became clear.

"Hey, she's awake."

That was when she noticed her head was hurting a little, but she made herself turn her head to find out who owned that voice. Reno's face appeared in her line of vision.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Like someone's taking a mallet to my head." she answered closing her eyes again. "A very large mallet."

"Soooo, how long have you and Sephiroth been an item?"

Jasmine's eyes shot open. "If you know, then that means Willow knows doesn't she?"

"Uh-huh. And I have to say, she isn't very happy about not knowing. So I ask again, how long have you and Sephiroth been together?"

"It's not your business to interrogate her Reno." Sephiroth said entering the room.

Reno turned to him and shrugged. "I was just curious."

"Anyway, Tseng needed to speak with you. He's a couple of rooms over." Sephiroth said.

"And Reno." he stopped at the door and turned to Jasmine. "Tell Willow if she wants the information, then she can get it herself. Don't send others to do her dirty work for her."

"How did-"

"I know Willow." Jasmine said.

Sephiroth waited for Reno to leave before turning to Jasmine. "How are you feeling?"

"Better if I could get the pounding in my head to stop." she answered. Then she noticed the rain hitting her window. "Is it still the same day?"

"No. You've been unconscious for a couple of days now." he answered sitting down next to her bed.

"How did I get here?" she asked.

"I brought you here. Your aunt made me go get you since Tseng and Reno were already with them." Sephiroth explained.

"Just like her." Jasmine mused aloud. "Has it been raining the entire time?"

"On and off. The damage to the field was minimal thanks to what you did." he answered. "What did happen out there?"

Jasmine didn't get a chance to answer. Willow came bursting into the room. She figured Reno told her she was awake.

"You really are awake."

"Yes."

Willow walked over to the other side of the bed. She looked down at her and slapped her. "THAT is for worrying the hell out of all of us." Then she grabbed one of her pillows and hit her over the head with it. "And THAT is for not telling me about you two."

"We were trying to keep it quiet for a while." Jasmine replied.

"But you couldn't tell your own cousin about it?" Willow retaliated.

"You would have told everyone you could."

"Would not!"

"Then how did you find out?"

Willow was silent for a moment. "I eavesdropped…on Tseng and Reno."

"Point made. You never grow up."

Sephiroth watched on in amusement as the two women sized each other up.

"Anyway, before you ask, the damage in the field was minimal. We are expecting a shipment of seeds to help with what was lost in the fire." Willow said.

"Anyway, where am I?" Jasmine finally asked.

"You don't recognize it? Welcome home!" Willow said.

"Not here, not now." Jasmine groaned.

"I thought you would be happy to be back in your own home." Willow said confused.

"I didn't want to move in so soon." Jasmine replied.

Willow opened her mouth to say something, but got cut off.

"Willow, I'm going to have to ask you to step out so I can talk to these two alone." Tseng said from the doorway. "And I will have to ask you not to eavesdrop this time."

Willow blushed. "I didn't know you knew I did that."

"He's Tseng. He has supernatural powers." Jasmine said, trying to lighten the mood in the room.

It worked, somewhat. Willow giggled as she left the room, closing the door behind her. Tseng then walked into the room.

"I've had my suspicions about you two for some time now." he said.

"And what are you going to do about it?" Jasmine asked, looking him in the eye.

"Nothing." he answered.

"Nothing?" Sephiroth asked, not keeping the doubt from his voice.

"Nothing. I'm happy for you two. I'll leave it up to you if you want to tell the President when we get back. I know I'm not going to tell him." Tseng said.

Jasmine gave a worried looked to Sephiroth. "We'll decide on that later." he assured her.

"Do you want Willow back in here right away?" Tseng asked, making his way towards the door.

Jasmine shook her head. Her eyelids were feeling heavy again and knew she wouldn't be able to fight off sleep for much longer. Tseng nodded and left the room.

"Are you feeling alright?" Sephiroth asked, sitting next to her on the bed.

"Just, tired." she said, stifling a yawn.

"Rest then. I'll keep Willow out of the room for you." he said.

She nodded as she fell asleep.

Jasmine slept for another four hours that day. When she woke up the pounding in her head had subsided and she allowed her aunt to make her eat something. Janet kept the meal light for her since she had been out for a couple of days, and she didn't want to give her more than her stomach could handle for the time being.

"Come on Jasmine, you have to tell us. What happened out there?" Willow asked, sitting on the edge of the bed after Jasmine had finished eating.

"Ifrit and Shiva appeared to help." she answered.

"You summoned two at the same time?" Janet asked.

"Kind of." Jasmine answered.

"What do you mean kind of?" Willow asked.

"I just asked someone to help, and then they came. To tell you the truth I was expecting Leviathan to show up." Jasmine explained.

"But two summons at the same time?" Janet mused.

"Why so astonished?" Sephiroth asked.

"No more than one summon is usually called upon at the same time during a battle. Even if it was your allies who called them. That way there is no confusion on who is being targeted and the summons don't hurt each other." Willow explained.

"That does make sense." Sephiroth said.

"It's just that, not very many people have summoned two at once." Janet said.

"And all of them that we know of were leaders." Willow said looking to her mother. "I guess she really was destined to become our leader."

_A/N: Yay for updates! I'm sorry that this took me a while to update but after a weekend of dealing with stupid people, I just didn't feel like writing. Well, I hope you enjoyed the new chapter. I should have the next chapter figured out by tomorrow and it should be up by then. R&R!_


	28. Chapter 27

_Okay, I think I have this chapter figured out enough to post. I think this chapter is a little bit blah, but I hope you enjoy it all the same. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 27

It continued to rain for the next couple of days. Jasmine couldn't stand staying in bed any longer, so she decided to get up and walk around, much to the disagreement of her aunt.

"Are you sure you should be up and around? You were out for a couple of days." Willow said in the sitting room.

"If I stay in that bed any longer I'm going to get so stiff I won't be able to move." Jasmine replied stretching.

"Said the girl who would lie around all day in bed if she was given the chance." Willow teased.

"Yeah, well I was younger then. I can't stand it as much now as I could then." Jasmine said sitting down in one of the chairs next to the window. Her attention was brought to her lap when she felt something jump onto her. "Hey pretty girl."

Patches started meowing at her.

"I missed you to…I know…I love you to." Jasmine cooed at her between her meows.

When Patches was given all the love she knew she would get, she curled up in her lap and started purring happily. Marie walked over and started stroking her.

"I love Patches, she's so cute." Marie said.

"Yes she is. I couldn't pass her up when I saw her." Jasmine said.

"What kind of cat is she?" Willow asked.

"She's a Maine Coon." Jasmine answered.

"How do you know?" Marie asked.

"You see that there that looks like an m?" Jasmine asked, pointing to the forehead of Patches. Marie nodded. "That is the easiest way to know that the cat is a Main Coon."

"Where did you get her?" Willow asked.

"I actually found her on the street as a kitten and I couldn't leave her out there. The place where I live didn't allow dogs, but they allowed me to have a cat." Jasmine explained.

Marie got the braided yarn she had made and had coaxed Patches into playing with her. When Marie ran from the room, Patches chased after her.

"That is one weird cat." Reno commented as he watched.

"She's different, that's why I love her." Jasmine replied.

Later that day, the rain finally stopped and the sun came out. By late afternoon it had dried the ground and Jasmine decided to venture out and check up on the field. She wanted to assess the damage herself and see if there was anything she could do to help with getting the field ready for the new seeds.

"So, why is this particular field so important?" Reno asked as he walked with Jasmine, Willow and Sephiroth towards the field.

"Every field is important." Jasmine said.

"I know, but I heard that this field is especially important, and I want to know why." Reno replied.

"The farmers who tend to this field, it is their major source of income from the main continents as well as their main source of trade here." Willow said.

"I didn't know you had a trade with the main continents when you're trying to stay quiet about who you are." Sephiroth said.

"They don't know who we are, per say, they just know that there are a bunch of people crazy enough to live out here." Willow replied with a light laugh.

"Hiding out in the open, that's cleaver." Reno said.

"It's the best way to hide." Jasmine said as they approached the field.

The fire didn't do as much damage as she had anticipated. It didn't even torch half of the field like she had thought it would. As they walked they approached a small group of the farmers who tended the field as well as one of the elders.

"It's not as damaged as I thought it would be." Jasmine said, as they approached the group.

"No, it wasn't m'lady." one of the farmers said, turning to her.

She gave him a confused look. "My name is Jasmine."

"Or, do you prefer m'lady Jasmine?" another farmer asked.

Jasmine turned to him. "No. I have not passed my third trial, nor have I been initiated."

"Not according to the elder." another farmer said with a smile.

"What does he mean?" Jasmine asked her attention on the elder.

"What he means is you are the new leader of our island." he explained.

"But, I haven't gone through my third trail yet." she said confused.

"I believe you have. You see a few days ago you summoned two of our summons at the same time. When that happens, it is almost always the leader who has been able to do that. I believe nature or perhaps the summons created the third trial for you to complete, which you did. Your birthday is in a few days, and I think that will be the perfect time to hold your initiation ceremony. It won't take to long and you will have the rest of the night to enjoy your birthday. We expect you there at eight." the elder explained, then left the field entirely.

Jasmine stood there completely stunned. She didn't know what to think or say. The farmers dispersed and started working in the field, getting it ready for the seeds that were expected to arrive within a couple of days.

"Congratulations, m'lady." Reno said with a goofy grin.

"Oh don't you start." Jasmine snapped at him.

"Get used to it. People will be calling you that in public after your birthday." Willow said.

Jasmine turned to her, glaring daggers. "You knew." It wasn't a question.

Willow gave a nervous laugh along with a smile, before turning and running from the field. Jasmine was hot on her heels.

_A/N: Yay! Jasmine made it. I know this is a short chapter, but I think this is a good stopping place. Like I said at the beginning, this chapter was a little blah. I want to have a little time to think about the ceremony before posting it but I should have it figured out by tomorrow. R&R!_


	29. Chapter 28

_I'm back and I'm sorry that I kept you waiting for a few of days. I had to think about an event and how I wanted it to go. Once I got that figured out an issue that I had been thinking about came up and I had to figure that out before I could continue. It was one of those things where I just wanted to tear my hair out and scream. I am happy to say that I still have my hair and that I have everything worked out. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 28

Jasmine had confined herself to her room for the rest of that day. She was obviously pissed at Willow and refused to come out of her room. Willow strongly advised against it, but after assuring her that he would be alright, Sephiroth ventured into her room. He found her standing by the French doors she had that led to one of the three balconies on that side of the house. She turned to him as he walked in, then turned back to looking out to the back of the house.

"How long do you plan on moping like this?" he asked as he approached her.

"She could have given me a fucking warning." she answered, not looking from the doors. "I would have killed her if I was able to catch her."

"You're being childish right now."

"Did you forget why we came here in the first place?" she asked looking him straight on. "My birthday is in a few of days and I'll be initiated. Do you know what I have to do after that is over?" she turned, walked to the bed and sat down.

"No I didn't. It was easy to be carefree here since we don't have the president breathing down our necks. For a while I was wondering if you had forgotten what we came here for." he replied sitting next to her.

"Never fully." she admitted.

Sephiroth took her in his arms and laid his chin on her head. "I can't say that killing a family member is something that you can get over. But your first kill is never the easiest to do or forget. I know this is going to be exceptionally hard on you since this is the first for you and this is your cousin. I want you to know that I'm here for you, to help you get through it the best way I can."

"I don't know what you can do Sephiroth, but thank you." She replied, putting her arms around him.

It wasn't until the next afternoon that Sephiroth was able to coax her outside. With every encounter that they had with the townspeople, she had been addressed as m'lady, and it was really starting to get on her nerves. She was starting to wonder if she could have a talk with the elders some time after her initiation to see if that tradition could be broken. Nobody used that term anymore and it was time the island got in touch with the times. She decided that she would definitely have a talk with the elders about that term.

She wasn't sure why, but her attention was brought to one of the lower cliffs close by the town. She recognized it instantly as a place that she and Willow would go to and play at when they were kids. Then she saw it again, there was a figure there watching. She had a suspicion she knew who it was and was glad she was prepared.

She turned towards the cliff. "I…need to be alone for a while. Think things through."

"Are you sure you'll be alright by yourself?" Sephiroth asked, ready to follow her.

She stopped and turned to him, giving him a small smile. "Yeah. I'm from this island, I'll be fine. I can take care of myself."

Sephiroth nodded in understanding and continued towards the house. She turned back towards the cliff and made her way to it. When she got there, the figure was nowhere in sight, but she did take the time to look at the town from that height. It was as beautiful as she had remembered it being. Some rustling behind her brought her out of her thoughts, but she didn't turn around.

"You wanted to die here, didn't you? Is that why you forced this on me so I would have to confront your mother and you would follow me?" she asked, finally turning around and facing Daniel.

"Partially. It's not a crime to not want to die in my homeland. Besides, it's tradition." he answered.

"Tradition. You don't know how much this is going to kill me Daniel." she said.

"You have no alternative. Now do your duty and give me a fight to the death." he replied unsheathing his sword.

Jasmine didn't make a move for hers. "I haven't been initiated yet, so I can't fulfill my duty."

"You've completed your trials, its close enough." he said, taking a battle stance.

Jasmine unsheathed her weapon, knowing she had no other choice and that she couldn't postpone this any longer. She went into her battle stance and prepared to fill out her duty.

She was sure that the clashing of metal on metal from their swords was attracting the attention of the people in the town, but nobody dared to interfere with what was going on. That was how it always was. She knew she needed to end this quickly if she didn't want to attract the attention of Sephiroth or the Turks. They would most certainly interfere, and she couldn't let any of them get hurt. Every time she went to get a blow on him, he would move out of the way to quickly. She knew that it would be reckless, but she knew that if she was going to beat him, she would need to separate her blades and use the two separate swords. She didn't want it to go flying away from her by Daniel placing his blade between them and flipping it out of her hands like Sephiroth had done.

When Daniel made a back flip to get away from her attack, she used that opportunity to separate the blades into the two separate swords that they were. She crossed them in time to block Daniel's next attack and he was slightly surprised to see that she now had two swords at her disposal. She pushed against him making him stumble back a little, then she came in on a string of attacks. Daniel was now having a harder time blocking, and knew that his end would be coming soon. It happened so fast, Jasmine didn't know exactly how it had happened. He blocked the attack from one of her swords and her instincts took over. Quickly with the other sword she struck and sunk her blade into his chest. He immediately dropped his sword and grabbed her blade. She yanked her blade from his body and he fell to the ground. Jasmine immediately dropped her blades, sank to the ground and held him.

"Daniel, I'm so sorry." she sobbed.

"Don't be. You did as you were supposed to." he said, looking into her eyes. With one hand he unclasped his crystal and handed it to her. "I know that both of my sisters have their crystals, so give this to one of your children. I know that one of them is bound to be able to use it and I'll be able to watch over them this way."

His breath hitched as he struggled to breath. "Daniel." Jasmine sobbed.

"I'll always be with you Jasmine, in your heart. You will be a great leader." He said, then his gaze became unfocused as he looked at the cloudless sky. "I see them. Our summons and ancestors are beckoning to me. I'll meet you again, in the Lifestream."

Sephiroth came upon the cliff in time to see Jasmine on the ground clutching a blue crystal while she cried over her cousin's body as he returned to the Lifestream.

After what had happened on the cliff, Jasmine had once again confined herself in her room after confronting her aunt about what she had done. Janet had refused to take her son's crystal since he had given it to Jasmine to give to one of her children. It wasn't until mid afternoon of her initiation that Janet finally came to Jasmine.

"Hon, you need to get ready for your initiation and your birthday celebration afterwards." Janet said as she came into the room.

"I don't want to go." she replied as she continued to look out the window next to the French doors.

Janet came up behind her and started rubbing Jasmine's shoulders. "Hon, I know how you feel about what happened. We all feel the same, but there was nothing you could do to convince him otherwise. He put you in a spot that you couldn't get out of. Its how life is for us being summoners and that is how it will always be."

"My heart just feels like it's been ripped in two." Jasmine sobbed.

"Jasmine, it's going to be hard, but we'll help you through this. You don't have to stay for the entire celebration if you don't want to." Janet said as she gave her shoulders a light squeeze. "Come on, I'll help you get ready."

"Wow." Reno breathed when he saw Jasmine come down the stairs. The others attention was drawn to the stairs by Reno and they all gaped a little as she came down, followed behind by Janet.

She was wearing a dark blue dress that had an oriental design on it. It was sleeveless and came up her neck a little. The sandals she wore were black with only a little heel on it. She wore a little blush, light silver eye shadow, and lipstick that paled her lips a little. Her hair was done up in a bun, but there was enough of her hair loose to create a little train cascading down her back that was curled. Her red crystal stood out against the blue fabric.

"Wow, Jasmine you look really pretty." Marie said.

"Thanks." she quietly replied.

"Yeah, really pretty." Reno said reaching up to brush her cheek with his hand. It was quickly smacked before he could touch her.

"You are not messing up her make up before initiation." Janet said.

"Okay, sorry." Reno replied holding his hands up as if to surrender.

"It's getting close to time. We need to get going." Janet said.

Jasmine nodded, following Janet out the door.

They had to go through town to get to the place where the initiation was taking place. They passed a well on their way there, and Jasmine remembered the dream she had at the infirmary at the Shinra building. She had a hard time holding back the tears that were welling up in her eyes, but she managed to hold them back as they passed.

They made it to a small clearing on the edge of town. Most of the townspeople were there to witness the event. There was a stone archway with an elegant red plush chair sitting in it. There was a pit off to the side of the crowd with wood stacked up for the bonfire later. On the other side of the crowd there was a long table elegantly filled with the food for after the ceremony.

"Alright, this is where we leave you Jasmine. Willow, you come with us until you're called upon by the elder." Janet said.

"Jasmine Winslow, please step forward." one of the elders said as soon as the group departed from her.

The crowd immediately went silent as soon as the elder spoke. She took a deep breath as she walked towards the arch. The crowd parted to let her pass, but closed back up behind her as she walked forward. She stopped when she reached the arch and looked at the elders who were lined in front of her. The one in the center stepped forward.

"Jasmine Winslow, you have been summoned tonight to be fully initiated into becoming the next leader of our island. This ceremony has been passed down through the ages, descendant to descendant of your family. You will go through this ceremony with pride, like your ancestors did before you. Do you understand what you are about to go through cannot be reversed in any way?" the elder stated.

"I do." Jasmine replied.

"Willow Evenest, will you please step forward?" the same elder called.

Willow stepped forward and came to stand at Jasmine's left.

"Willow Evenest, you have been appointed by Jasmine to be her most trusted advisor as she leads this island. You will advise her on events as best you see fit as they come. Know that you will not make the final decisions, that the final one is Jasmine's. You are not the ruler, you are the adviser. Know that once you fill this position you cannot reverse it, but only Jasmine has that power and can reverse it when and if she feels it is the best thing. Do you understand this?" the same elder stated.

"I do." Willow replied.

"Are you fully prepared and willing to fill this position as of now?" the elder asked.

"I do." Willow answered.

The elder nodded. "Step down."

Willow nodded and stepped back then returned to the group. Two more elders joined the first.

One of them stepped forward, grabbed Jasmine's right hand pouring soil in it and spoke. "This is the soil that you were born on. The same soil that the summons sacrificed themselves on, to save those who fought along side them. Know it, understand it, and honor it."

That elder stepped back and the other one stepped forward and grabbed her left hand pouring water into it. "This is the water of the ocean. The same one that was crossed in an effort to save the final summons who survived the harsh battle of the main continents. Know it, understand it, and honor it."

Another elder joined the three, holding a lit candle and a piece of metal. He gave the elder who started the ceremony the metal as he held the candle. The elder put the tip of the metal to the flame until it was hot and approached Jasmine. He grabbed her elbow and placed the heated tip to her skin of her upper arm. Jasmine hissed as the tip make contact with her. It was quickly drawn away from her and her arm was immediately doused with water to keep her flesh from becoming severely burned.

The elder holding the metal then spoke. "This is the pain that was experienced during the many battles our ancestors fought in an effort to save our beloved summons. It is the same pain the summons felt as they fought along side us in an effort to also save the ones who stood along side them. Know it, understand it, and honor it."

Her hands were then grabbed and she was gently pulled to the chair that was waiting under the stone arch. She was gestured to turn around and sit down. She took a shaky breath as she did.

The elder who started the ceremony turned to the crowd. "Jasmine Winslow, our new leader!"

The crowd exploded in applause and cheers as soon as the announcement was made.

Not to long afterwards, people filed by to give her their congratulations and birthday wishes. As soon as they were done, the group she came with finally made their way forward.

"Are you alright?" Reno asked as he looked at the burn on her arm.

"I've had worse." Jasmine answered.

"That was quite interesting. I've never seen something like that before." Tseng said.

"Something that has been passed down since that last battle." Janet stated then turned to Jasmine. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just a little tired I guess." Jasmine answered.

"You know you can leave anytime you want to now." Janet said.

"I owe it to the people to stay a little longer." Jasmine replied.

Janet nodded then turned to the rest of the group. "Alright, we have to move. We can't hog her. We have to let other people have the chance to see her and talk to her."

A couple of hours later, Sephiroth noticed that she wasn't there anymore. He knew where she had gone and slipped away from the party to check up on her.

Jasmine was lying in bed in her night gown. She had her French doors open to allow the warm night air to float into the room. She was thinking about going to sleep when she saw a dark figure make his way into the room from the balcony, his silver hair reflecting the light of the moon.

"Sephiroth? What are you doing on my balcony?" she asked making her way towards him.

"I climbed over from the next room. Your door was locked." he answered.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I came to check up on you. It's the first time we've been completely alone like this in a while and it may be the last time in a long time." Sephiroth answered, pulling her into his arms.

"You guys are leaving soon?" she asked.

"We thought tomorrow would be the best time to go. We'll tell the president that you two died on each other's swords so he won't come after you." he explained.

"You don't have to do that."

"We want to."

"No, I mean…I still have a choice to go back for a year to get things done. I can go with you, get things done on the continents and then come back here. Maybe by then you could come back with me." Jasmine explained.

"I don't think the president would agree to that, but I promise you this." He said looking down at her. "I will come back to you when I can get away from Shinra for good."

"Sephiroth." she whispered as he lowered his lips to hers.

_A/N: I finally got this chapter done. Again, I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting, but thanks all the same for having patience. I thought about splitting this chapter up, but I thought I should give you a nice long chapter as a way of making up for not posting for a while. I know I realized a mistake, her cousin started out having the name David then it became Daniel. I'm sorry for those of you who got mixed up, but I decided to keep the name Daniel. A warning, a lemon is in the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it. It was challenging and interesting put together. I may not update as quickly as I have been because I start school again on Monday, but I will try to update as much as I can. Until my next post, R&R!_


	30. Chapter 29 lemon

_**Warning: This chapter is a lemon chapter. Either turn back now or skip ahead. **__I am not taking responsibility for you reading this chapter and not liking it. I gave you the warning, you chose to read it. Not me! For an explanation about why I haven't updated in forever, see the note before the next chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters, I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 29

He continued to kiss her, savoring her taste knowing it would be the last time for a long time. He took the time to memorize the feel of her lips on his and the taste of her tongue on his as she kept up with him. He knew she wanted to take this all the way when he felt her pulling his coat and shoulder guards from his shoulders. He lowered his arms and let them fall to the floor.

"Where's your protection at?" he asked as he focused on kissing her neck. He wanted to be able to get them quickly when the time came.

Jasmine hesitated to answer as she allowed Sephiroth to continue working on her neck.

"Um, in my nightstand drawer…back in my apartment at Shinra." She finally answered.

This made Sephiroth stop what he was doing and look at her. "You don't have anything?"

"No. To be honest I thought I would have to go back to the continents to find Daniel, but…" she looked away, unable to continue.

"It's fine. I'll go out and get some." He stated.

"Good luck. You won't be able to find anything here." she responded.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, looking at her.

"It is believed here that whatever happens, it happens for a reason. It's the same fore pregnancy. If a woman gets pregnant, she was meant to get pregnant and have a child with that man. Therefore, there is no protection here to prevent pregnancy due to this belief." Jasmine explained.

For once in his life, Sephiroth was stuck. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to spend one last night with Jasmine before having to leave, but he didn't want to risk her getting pregnant by not using protection.

'Damn it. What am I supposed to do in this situation?'

"Sephiroth." she called softly, bringing his attention back to her. "Don't worry about it so much." She said brushing her hands up his arms.

"And if you get pregnant?" he questioned.

"Then I'll take care of the baby until you get back." she answered.

"I don't want to leave you alone with a baby." he replied.

"I won't be completely alone. Willow will be more than willing to help me until you get back." Jasmine said.

Sephiroth closed his eyes as he silently fought with himself. 'Damn it. We have a 50/50 percent chance here. She either gets pregnant, or she doesn't. Do we take the risk or not? I could finish up somewhere else, but-'

"I'll understand if you just want to leave." she said turning back towards the bed.

'No! She's taking my silence as a rejection. I'm not going to let this end like this.' he thought as he grabbed her hand stopping her.

She stopped, looking down at their hands then back up at him. He swiftly pulled her back to him and put his arms around her.

"Jasmine, I love you." he said before claiming her lips.

She gasped a little as he kissed her, Sephiroth taking the opportunity to let his tongue enter her mouth. She regained herself quickly. She threw her arms around his neck and returned the kiss with as much enthusiasm and passion as Sephiroth.

As they continued to kiss, she let her hands wander down his chest and abs until they stopped at his waist. She found the buckle to his belt and started to undo it. When that was done, she moved to his suspenders and unfastened them.

When she lowered her hands back to his pants to undo them, Sephiroth stopped her by gently grabbing her hands. He wasn't about to let her strip him down completely just yet. He then let his hands brush up her arms as he continued to kiss her. He gently grabbed the straps to her night gown and pulled them down off her shoulders. He watched as the gown completely drained off her body and fell to the floor.

Jasmine gasped as the cool night breeze hit her now bare skin. Sephiroth kissed her again as he gently backed her to the bed. The kiss was broken when she backed herself onto the bed and laid down. Sephiroth removed his boots and kicked them to the side. He then removed his pants and crawled onto the bed, covering Jasmine.

They continued kissing, each of their tongues battling the other for dominance, for control over the other. Sephiroth let his right hand wander down from her shoulder to her breast and gave it a soft squeeze. Jasmine moaned lightly into his mouth then cried out a little when Sephiroth pinched her nipple. He then kissed down her jaw line, neck and collarbone to her breast. He bit down onto her breast causing her to groan and dig her hands into his hair, pulling him closer. He rolled her nipple in his mouth with his tongue while his left hand journeyed lower.

Sephiroth allowed his hand to pass underneath her panties and allowed his hand to slip past her folds. He knew he found her bundle of nerves when her hips bucked against him. He turned his attention from her breast and started kissing her again as he slipped a finger into her. Jasmine moaned into his mouth as he moved his finger in and out of her, allowing another finger to join the first.

She gave a small noise of disappointment when he withdrew his fingers from her and stopped kissing her. He moved down as he pulled off the last barriers of clothing between him and her. When he finished removing her panties, he stood at the foot of the bed and removed his boxers as well. When he crawled back onto the bed, he surprised Jasmine by not covering her again, but instead lifted her legs onto his shoulders and bent down.

Her eyes fluttered into a roll then closed as from the pleasure his tongue was giving her. She gasped then moaned as Sephiroth's tongue entered her. She started clawing at the sheets under her and dug her head into the pillows as he continued his ministrations. She was so close now, her hips pinned down by Sephiroth's hands so she wouldn't be able to buck into him. Jasmine cried out as she climaxed, Sephiroth lapping up her nectar as she did.

He came back up to her and kissed her. Tasting herself on his tongue ignited a new sensation in her and she could hardly stand to wait anymore. The same couldn't have been truer for Sephiroth. Just as Jasmine opened her mouth to start begging for him to take her, he positioned himself at her entrance.

He hesitated and looked at her. "Are you sure about this?"

"Sephiroth, please." She begged, gripping his shoulders tightly. "I want you. I love you and I will continue to love you, no matter the outcome."

Sephiroth moved his hand to her face and caressed her cheek. "I love you too."

He leaned down and kissed her as entered her. She moaned into his mouth as she felt him fill her. The kiss was broken as he started thrusting into her. He would pull out almost completely before thrusting himself into her again, slowly.

"Sephiroth, please stop teasing me." Jasmine begged. "Faster."

He smiled at her as he gave her what she asked for. He thrusted into her faster, but kept the pace steady, wanting their union to last a little longer. She matched his pace, bucking her hips against his, allowing him to thrust into her deeper and harder. When he felt her body begin to clench around him, it all seemed too soon. He knew she was near, but he was also. He had hoped that he wouldn't climax along with her and prayed that he would be able to control himself long enough to be able to satisfy her and not release at the same time.

"Sephiroth!" she cried as she climaxed and that was enough to bring about his climax as well. He couldn't control himself for that moment and he felt himself release inside of her. "Jasmine!" he returned to her. She gasped as she felt his seed shoot into her, coating her walls. It was like nothing she had ever experienced and she loved every bit of it. When she brought her attention back to Sephiroth, she noticed an almost pained look on his face and she realized what it must have been that he was trying to do.

"Sephiroth." She panted, calling his attention back to her.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't-"

She placed a finger to his lips and gently shushed him. "Don't worry about it. Whatever happens, happens." She said brushing some of his hair that had clung to the sweat on his face.

He sighed as he allowed himself to slide out of her. He laid down next to her and pulled her into his arms. He gently laid his chin on top of her head, taking in the scent of her hair. "I just…wanted to be there, when you're pregnant…when the baby comes." She pulled back a little to look up at him. "And to see 'em grow up." He finished.

"And you will." She said giving him a small smile. He couldn't help but return a smile of his own to her.

"I can't promise that I will be here."

"We won't worry about that now." She snuggled closer to him in his arms. "Stay with me tonight."

"I promise."

"I love you Sephiroth."

"I love you too, Jasmine."

_A/N: Wow, that one took me a while to write. This one was harder for me to write, I guess because it's their 'last night' and I tried to make it more special for them. I edited it I don't know how many times when I finally told myself to put it up already for you guys. Be sure to read my note before reading the next chapter to find out why I didn't update for the longest time. Reviews are appreciated._


	31. Chapter 30

_**Note, please read first:**__ I would like to apologize for not reviewing for the longest time. School literally took over my life this semester. When I got done with one subject, I had a bunch of other crap I had to do in another subject. Believe me when I say I wanted to update this story for the longest time, but I just didn't have the time. It was really frustrating. I do have a summer class that I will be taking and it starts in about a week. It's only one class and it only goes for about four weeks, so it shouldn't be that bad. Hopefully I will be able to finish up this story before then and start my next story soon. Enough babbling, enjoy the next chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters, just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 30

Sephiroht's eyes fluttered at the morning light that streamed in through the window. He looked at the clock on the wall and blinked at the time. He rarely slept past five and it was nearly nine. He looked down at the woman still wrapped in his arms and smiled. He kissed her on top of her head as she stirred a little as she woke up. She tilted her head to look up at him.

"Good morning." He greeted.

"Good morning." She returned with a sleepy smile.

"I'm afraid we have to get up. We have to get going back to that boat in an hour." He sighed.

"Are you sure you have to leave?" Jasmine asked.

"I'm afraid so, if we don't want Shinra to come looking for us. You're supposed to be dead now." He answered.

Jasmine sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"I guess we better get dressed and get downstairs if we don't want them to come looking for us." Sephiroth said as he sat up.

"Wanna shower together?" Jasmine asked with a sly smile as she followed Sephiroth out of bed.

"There you two are." Willow said as the two entered the kitchen.

"You never sleep in." Tseng stated to Sephiroth as he stood next to the counter, a mug of coffee in his hand.

"He just thought he would give it a whirl this morning." Jasmine said as she sat at the table to help herself to some breakfast.

"Oh, my, god." Willow said looking at Jasmine. "You two got it on last night, didn't you?"

"And what if we did?" Jasmine asked.

Willow's jaw dropped as she continued to stare at her. "You're not denying it?"

"Why should I?" Jasmine asked, giving Sephiroth a brief look before looking back at Willow. "We love each other."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Reno said from across the table with his hands raised as if in submission. "You two had sex last night," Reno said pointing to both Jasmine and Sephiroth. "and openly admitting to it?"

"Yes, and that's all we're going to say about it." Jasmine said, shooting a glare at him.

"And we would appreciate it if you said even less about it." Sephiroth said, shooting him a glare of his own.

"I will make sure of that personally." Tseng said.

"Thank you Tseng. That would be greatly appreciated." Jasmine said looking at him.

"Sooo," Willow teased, a mischievous smile spreading across her lips. "who had the top last night?"

Jasmine dropped her fork to her plate and rolled her eyes before dropping her face into her hands.

"I'm not getting near those things!"

"Reno, I'm not arguing with you anymore."

"Tseng, do you not remember what happened the last time I got to close to those things?"

"Your not riding them, you're riding in the cart behind them." Tseng stated, starting to lose his patience with the red head.

"It's still to close!" Reno whined.

"We could always tie him to the back of the cart Tseng." Jasmine suggested as she watched the two argue from the cart she was sitting in.

"I'm starting to like that suggestion actually." Tseng said, not taking his eyes off of him.

Reno warily looked at the cart they were to ride in and the two chocobos that were going to be pulling it. "I still don't like this."

"Reno, these two chocobos are much gentler than the ones Janet has." Jasmine said trying to assure him. "Besides, these two are wearing blinds and won't be able to see you in the cart behind them."

"You don't have a choice." Tseng said. "Get in the damn cart, now."

Jasmine knew that Tseng was pissed now. He almost never cussed, even when he wasn't in uniform. She hopped down from the cart and walked over to the two men. She grabbed one of Reno's arms and helped Tseng literally pull him to the cart. After some more whining, yelling and fighting from Reno, cussing and threats from both Jasmine and Tseng, they finally got Reno into the cart and were on their way to the docks.

Jasmine and Sephiroth didn't really spend the ride talking. They really just sat there, holding hands as they rode to the docks. They came into view of the boat all too soon to Jasmine. She followed the three men onto the docks and bid her goodbyes to Reno and Tseng before they disappeared onto the boat, leaving her alone with Sephiroth.

Jasmine looked at Sephiroth with a gloss of tears in her eyes. "And I told myself not to cry."

Sephiroth took both of her hands in his and leaned his forehead on hers. "It's okay to cry."

The tears started streaming down her face and her voice shook as she spoke. "I don't want you to go."

"I have to, to protect you. But I promise you this," Sephiroth said, tilting her chin to look at him. "I will come back to you."

"I love you Sephiroth."

"I love you too, Jasmine."

He brushed some of the tears away with the back of his hand before catching her lips with his. They shared one last kiss together before Sephiroth backed away from her and disappeared onto the boat. She watched as the boat nearly disappeared into the horizon.

"M'lady."

Jasmine brought her attention to the driver of the cart.

"I'm sorry, but it's time that we start getting back."

She nodded and gave the boat one last look before following the man back to the cart.

*present*

"He was only gone two months…and I found out I was pregnant. Six months later, I gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Jack looks so much like Sephiroth…I'm constantly reminded of him everyday." Jasmine, now twenty-eight said, brushing away a tear that started running down her cheek.

"You really loved him didn't you?" Tifa asked.

"I still do." Jasmine answered, raising her eyes to her.

"We, haven't been completely honest in everything we told you we know about Sephiroth." Cloud said catching Jasmine's attention.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"The best person to tell you this is a friend of ours. I'll give him a call shortly and he should be here in a couple of days at the most. It's getting late now, so stay here for the night." He answered.

"We don't want to be a bother to you." Jasmine said.

"We insist." Tifa said. "Please stay and give your son a bed to sleep in tonight."

Jasmine gave her a small smile and nodded. "Thank you. We really appreciate this."

"I'll show you to the room that you and your son will stay in." Tifa said, leading her towards the stairs.

Cloud waited for the two women to disappear upstairs before flipping open his cell phone and dialing. "Vincent? Listen, I need you to come to Seventh Heaven as soon as possible."

*In the darkness of the Northern Crater*

Water could be heard dripping in puddles on the floor. Stalactites could be seen hanging from the ceiling here and there. Suddenly, crystallized mako shot out in all directions. A wing stretched out as a dark figure stood. Green cat slitted eyes glowed in the darkeness.

Jasmine shot up in bed with a gasp. She looked over at her son who was still sleeping soundly next to her. 'This feeling.' She thought as she clutched the red crystal hanging around her neck. 'Something is going to happen.'

_A/N: I hope that this chapter was long enough for you. I tried to make it as long as possible for you guys as an apology for being so late in my update. Some things are going to start happening again. What could it possibly be? What will Vincent tell Jasmine? Is what happened in the crater reality, or just a dream of Jasmine's? Stay tuned to find out. I may update again later, I'm just not sure yet. Reviews would be appreciated!_


	32. Chapter 31

_Hey everybody, I'm back with another chapter. Sorry I didn't update again yesterday. I just wasn't feeling up to it. I tell you, I live in Central Illinois, and it is in the high 70s, low 80s already! What happened to Spring? Do we just jump right into Summer and skip Spring altogether now? Sheesh. Anyway, I'm going to work through this heat wave by giving you another chapter. Hopefully my ceiling fan will keep me from passing out, lol. Enjoy the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 31

Jasmine woke up to the sunlight pouring into the window. She sat up and looked at the clock on the nightstand. She sighed at the time.

'Just past nine. I usually don't sleep this late. Damn time change.'

She looked over to the other side of the bed to find it empty. She panicked for a moment till she reminded herself that Jack was almost nine and knew better than to wonder off. Especially in a place that he didn't know. She took a couple calming breaths, then made her way out of bed and got dressed.

"So you two really knew my dad?"

Reno grinned at the young silver haired boy next to him on the bar stool and nodded. "Yep. We most certainly did."

Rude stood close by the bar next to Reno, content to let him talk to the young boy.

"Was he as cool as my mom says he is?" Jack asked excitedly.

"Cooler." Reno answered.

At that time Tifa came from the kitchen with a plate of pancakes and sausage and set it down on the bar in front of Jack.

He looked up at her and smiled. "Thank you Miss Tifa."

"Just Tifa sweetheart, and your welcome."

"Okay, Tifa." He replied. He picked up his fork ready to dig in when he looked up at the ceiling. "Mom's up."

"You want to see just how sharp your mom is kiddo?" Reno asked smirking a little.

"Sure, yeah."

Reno put a finger to his lips, signaling him to stay quiet. He snuck over to the stairs, hidden from sight to the side of the doorway. He raised his rod in an attack pose and waited.

When Jasmine finished putting on her boots she opened the door to the bedroom and started towards the stairs. She slowed in the middle of them, but didn't stop going down them. Something seemed off. It was to quiet down there. She took her sword out from its sheath and continued down the stairs at a faster pace. She didn't even get out the door when she raised her sword and it collided with Reno's rod, blocking his attack. She slowly turned her head to the right to look at him. He grinned at her sheepishly.

"Reno still talks about how you would have made a great Turk." Rude said.

"Yes, well it didn't happen that way Rude." Jasmine said, not taking her eyes off the red head.

Reno let his rod drop and hang at his wrist, put his hands up submissively and back away a bit. Jasmine sheathed her sword, smiling at the Turk.

"So, what gave me away this time?" Reno asked.

"Your aura was rolling off of you in waves." Jasmine joked. "Plus your cologne is pretty strong."

Reno looked down at himself then back at her. "It is not!"

"Or are you trying to hide something?" Jasmine asked, quickly walking over to him and reached into the breast pocket of his suit jacket. Her hand emerged from the pocket empty. "Finally quit smoking, huh?"

"He quit not to long after he came back from that island your from." Rude said.

"It was about time." Jasmine said, walking over to the bar to her son who had started on his breakfast. She brushed his hair from his forehead and kissed the top of his head. "Good morning sweetheart." She said sitting down next to him.

"Morning mom." Jack said giving her a smile before turning back to his pancakes.

"You want something to eat Jasmine?" Tifa asked.

"Just coffee will be alright for me, thanks."

"Did you sleep alright?" she asked as she poured the coffee for her.

"Better than I have in a while." She briefly looked at Reno who had dropped onto the barstool next to her. "So, did these two decide to come in and bug you?"

"What are you talking about? Reno's always coming in here to bug me. This is a bar after all." Tifa teased.

"Well, some habits die hard I guess." Jasmine said looking at Reno who brought his shoulders up in a small shrug at her. "Anyway, where's Cloud at?"

"He had to make a delivery. Don't worry, he called our friend last night. He'll probably be here later this afternoon."

"Which one?" Reno chimed in.

"Stay out of it Reno." Tifa said sternly, looking at him.

"The boss calls anyway Reno." Rude said.

"Boss? You mean Shinra is still running, even after meteor?" Jasmine asked.

"Yeah, under his son Rufus now though." Reno said standing up. "We'll catch you later Jaz."

"You seem to be really good friends with them." Tifa said after the two men left.

"Yeah. I think it's safe to say that we were pretty close then."

"Hey mom, is it alright if I go to the park with Marlene and Denzel today?" Jack asked with a pleading look in his eyes.

"Its close by and I can guarantee that this neighborhood is pretty safe. They were supposed to meet with Yuffie there and she'll be able to keep an eye on them." Tifa explained.

"Alright you can go, but you don't go anywhere else unless it's back here. Understand?" Jasmine said.

Jack nodded enthusiastically. "Thanks mom!" he said as he jumped from his seat and ran up the stairs.

"Energetic kid isn't he?"

"Yes, Tifa he is."

Jasmine had met Yuffie before she went to the park to meet the kids. She didn't know who had more energy. Yuffie or Jack. She was much like a kid herself, but was mature nonetheless. She decided to take a walk and look around the city a little. She was curious to see how much it was different from Midgar since it didn't have a plate to separate it from a city of slums.

After walking around, she decided to head to the park and help Yuffie watch the kids there. She was a couple of blocks away when she heard some screaming. She turned to the left and ran a couple of blocks towards the sound. People were scattering as a small group of monsters started running through the streets. She ran towards them and as soon as the people were out of the way, she grabbed her crystal.

"Phoenix, you're needed."

Phoenix emerged and immediately summoned his fire magic and it consumed the monsters.

"Thank you Phoenix. Until next time." Jasmine's crystal shined a little as the summon disappeared. She turned when she heard footsteps approaching her, and she ended up staring down a three barreled gun.

'Why is it that when I save people, they always assume I'm a bad guy?' she thought to herself.

"Who are you?" he asked.

She was taken aback by the deepness of his voice despite his apparent youth. "Jasmine, I'm with Cloud."

"Viiiinceeeeeent!" Yuffie yelled as she ran towards them. "She's a good person!" she exclaimed when she finally reached them.

Vincent looked back at Jasmine and put his gun back in his holster. "My apologies. If Yuffie knows you then you must be telling the truth about knowing Cloud."

"Don't worry about it, I'm used to that reaction." Jasmine turned her attention to Yuffie. "Where are the kids?"

"I dropped them off at Seventh Heaven before coming here to see what was up. I want to know who summoned Phoenix." She said.

"I did."

They both gave Jasmine a curious look.

"I'll explain when we get back to Seventh Heaven."

Vincent nodded. "That would probably be best."

Jasmine gave the area one last look before following the two back. 'Something is going to happen. I can feel it.'

_A/N: I think that is a good stopping point. I hope this chapter is long enough for your liking. Things are starting to happen and sadly this story is winding down. Don't worry I have other stories worked out in my head. I have another Vincent Valentine one planned next along with a sequel. Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter. Please review, they are really appreciated._


	33. Chapter 32

_Okay, here is the next chapter. I'm sorry that I didn't update a few days ago, but something happened that had me upset, but things are okay now, nothing to worry about. After that happened I had work and I just didn't feel like updating then either. A couple of things should start to happen shortly here, hopefully not for much longer. Enjoy the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters, I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 32

"So, you don't need to have a summoning materia in order to summon?" Yuffie asked.

"That's right." Jasmine said nodding at her.

"That's so cool…wait, how do you summon if you don't use materia?"

Jasmine held up her red crystal. "With this."

"Wow, that's pretty." Yuffie said reaching for it.

"Yuffie, don't touch it!" Tifa scolded. Yuffie snatched her hand back as if she had touched something hot.

"It's alright." Jasmine chuckled taking the necklace holding the crystal from around her neck and handing it over to Yuffie. "Just don't drop it."

Yuffie nodded and held it in her hands like it was made out of fine china. "It's so pretty…any way that I could use this?"

"Yuffie…" Tifa groaned.

Jasmine smiled. "You wouldn't be able to use it. If you were a family member and I had left it to you, like my mother did for me with that, then you would be able to use it. Usually the crystal decides who will use it and who will not. There have been instances where a crystal had been left to a family member and they couldn't use it because the crystal wouldn't allow it. Even that is rare, but it does happen."

"A supposed legend of the summoners is in fact true." Vincent quietly mused to himself as he watched Yuffie admire the crystal some more before handing back over. "I wonder if the legend of summons having been alive years ago is also true."

Cloud appeared from the stairs. "Yuffie, the kids are asking for you to come upstairs and play with them."

"Okay." Yuffie said hopping from the bar stool. "I'll talk to you later Jasmine."

Cloud watched her disappear upstairs before turning to Vincent. "I thought it was best to have Yuffie away for a while and give you two a chance to talk."

Jasmine looked to Cloud confusingly, then to Vincent, and then back to Cloud. "He's the one you called to talk to me?"

"Yes." Vincent said, not giving Cloud a chance to answer. "I may not look like it, but I knew Sephiroth's parents…and I was there during the project that created him."

He had her full attention by that statement. "Tell me, have you heard of Jenova?"

Jasmine took a minute to really think. "I think I remember reading a part of a file I had recovered when I was working for Shinra. If I remember correctly, she was a 'calamity that fell from the sky.'"

"That is correct, but there was a time that she was believed to have been an Ancient." Jasmine blinked at him in surprise. He continued. "There was a scientist working for Shinra named Gast. He created a project that injected a human fetus with the cells of Jenova to see if the child would carry the same traits as that of the Ancients. Also included on this project was Lucrecia, and Hojo. Lucrecia agreed to go along with the project by allowing Hojo to inject the child she was carrying with Jenova cells. She gave birth to the man we know as Sephiroth."

"What is your part in all of this?" Jasmine asked.

"I was the Turk assigned to protect those on the project. Hojo made me into what I am today due to my objections on the project and after seeing Lucrecia become ill…but maybe it is what I deserve for not trying harder to stop her."

"This is why we wanted you to talk to Vincent, he was there and knows more than we do." Cloud explained.

"So, Lucrecia is Sephiroth's birth mother, not Jenova?"

"Yes. Sephiroth does carry the cells of Jenova, so in a way she is also his mother." Vincent answered.

"If Lucrecia is Sephiroth's birth mother, then who is his father?"

"It wasn't until four years ago that I found this out…but Hojo is his father."

Jasmine gasped, looking appalled bowed her head towards the floor. "You're telling me," she looked back up at Vincent "that excuse for a human being…is the grandfather of my son?"

Vincent's eyes widened a fraction. "You had a son with Sephiroth?"

"Yes."

Jasmine was taking several breaths, trying to calm herself from the new information she was given.

"Mom?"

Everybody's attention was drawn to the doorway to the stairs, where Jack was standing. Vincent's eyebrows raised a little in surprise. He looked so much like Sephiroth. There was no mistaking him for his son.

"Yes Jack?"

"There's a chance we'll be going home without Dad, isn't there?"

Jasmine stood from her seat, walked over to Jack and hugged him. "I don't know sweetheart. Everything is unclear right now."

Jacked back away a little to look at his mother. "Are you getting a feeling again?"

"Yes."

"Feelings of what?" Vincent asked.

"Mom gets them sometimes." Jack explained. "And she is hardly ever wrong about them."

"What are you feeling?" Cloud asked.

"I'm not sure right now, it might be the feelings of the past playing tricks on me but…I feel like he's nearby." Everybody looked at her questionably. "Sephiroth."

After seeing that Jack was with the other two kids, Marlene and Denzel, Jasmine made her way downstairs the next morning. She paused on the stairs when she heard voices.

"Couldn't it be a coincidence?" Yuffie asked.

"It would make sense. The same thing happened with the remnants." Vincent said.

"Your right, it does make sense. There have been reports of monsters showing up in other parts of town. The WRO was able to get rid of them though." A man added.

'Remnants? WRO?'

"Vincent's right. We can't overlook this. The monsters showing up and Jasmine saying she has a feeling, we have to assume that he's coming back if he hasn't already." Cloud said.

"Then we should prepare for the worst." Tifa agreed. "What should we tell Jasmine?"

"We'll tell her that we're keeping an eye on the situation as we know it now. We will tell her as information comes to us." Cloud answered.

Jasmine took that moment to make her appearance. At that same moment Reno chose that time to come in the bar.

"Hey, I guess I came in at the right time. Sleepyhead." He teased.

"I'm not used to the time change. I'm usually up earlier than this." Jasmine defended.

"Excuses, excuses." Reno teased back.

Jasmine ignored him and turned her attention to the group of people in the bar and saw there was someone there she had not met yet.

"You must be Jasmine. Hi, I'm Reeve Tuesti." He said extending his hand.

"Reeve Tuesti." Jasmine repeated as she shook his hand. "Urban Development for Shinra, right?"

He blinked in surprise. "Yes, when Shinra was still running of course. Now I run the WRO."

"WRO?"

"World Regenisis Organization. We're dedicated in helping the Planet heal as well as protect it from further harm." Reeve explained.

"I see. That's good." Jasmine then turned her attention back to Reno. She had almost forgotten about him. "Why are you here? Don't you have duties to attend to since you're a Turk?"

"Not on shift right now." He answered, folding his hands behind his head and walked further into the bar.

Jasmine rolled her eyes. "Of course."

"Hey! Fine, I won't ask you how you've been." He said with a shrug.

"You just did." She retorted.

He opened his mouth, but closed it since he couldn't come up with something. Instead he crossed his arms with a huff and a playful glare. She smiled and chuckled but it was cut off as a dark car pulled in front of the bar. The man that got out of the drivers seat she recognized right away as Tseng. Her surprise moved to suspicion when Rude also got out along with a woman with blonde hair, also in a Turk uniform, and a man with blonde hair and a white suit. Her eyes flared as she looked at Reno.

"You didn't." she said through gritted teeth.

Reno quirked an eyebrow in confusion then looked behind him outside. He whipped his head back to face Jasmine. "I didn't, I swear I didn't. I didn't say anything about you."

"Jasmine calm down." She turned to look at Cloud. "Rufus is most likely here to talk to us as AVALANCHE about the monsters."

Jasmine was able to take in a deep breath before the four people came in.

"A bit early to be drinking isn't it Reno?" Tseng asked as they walked into the bar. His eyes soon caught sight of Jasmine and he reacted. "Jasmine?"

The man in the white suit looked at him. "Someone you know Tseng?"

Tseng looked back at him. "Old acquaintance, sir."

"Judging by your reaction I would say that is not entirely true."

"What do you want Rufus?" Cloud asked, grabbing his attention from Tseng.

"Thought you would like to know. A young man with silver hair was seen in the ruins of Midgar." He answered.

Jasmine's heart began to pound as Cloud spoke again. "Is this information reliable?"

"I would say so. The man seemed-"

"Hey mom!" Jasmine closed her eyes as she heard her son come bounding down the stairs. "Mom, can-Reno!" Jack charged at him, but was caught before he could get far. He blinked in surprise at Jasmine. "Mom?"

The woman with blonde hair started towards them, but stopped when Jasmine pointed her double bladed sword at her. "Bad idea sweetie."

"Elena, we are here because of a report about a _man_ with silver hair. Not a boy." Rude said.

"However." Rufus started, staring at Jack. "This one does resemble Sephiroth quite a bit." He turned his attention to Cloud. "How come you didn't tell us about this orphan?"

"He's no orphan." Jasmine said catching Rufus's attention. "He's my son."

Rufus blinked at her in surprise. "Is that so. If my intuition is right and he is the son of Sephiroth…I really don't want to end up like my old man. Nobody touches him. Is that understood?"

"But sir-" Elena started.

"Are you questioning my decision?"

"No, sir." She answered, bowing her head.

"Good." He turned his attention back to Cloud. "What are you going to do?"

"We will monitor the situation for now. Thank you for giving us this information."

Rufus nodded and turned towards the door. "Don't be late for your shift Reno."

"Yes, sir." He answered as Rufus left the bar followed by Rude and Elena.

"Jasmine, Reno may have a big mouth sometimes, but he and Rude didn't say anything to us about you being back." Tseng said to her. "It's nice to see you again."

"Same to you Tseng." Jasmine said sheathing her sword. "I know I don't have to tell you, but don't try anything."

Tseng nodded. "I have duties to attend to right now. Maybe I can speak with you later."

Jasmine nodded and Tseng turned and headed out the door himself.

"I told you I didn't say anything!" Reno said.

Jasmine just gave him a look.

_A/N: Okay, I'm going to stop the chapter there. A nice long chapter as an apology for taking a while to update. Not trying to make light of what had happened in the Jenova project, but I can see that as being a painful subject for Vincent and I just wanted him to get to the point. That and I didn't want to elaborate on it for a long period of time. If you really want to find out more, then you can google it. That's what I do in my constant boredom, lol. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I will not be taking a summer class as planned, so I will be able to update more than I originally thought. I may not update tomorrow since I'm going to be out with friends, but I may update the day after if I'm not to lazy. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Please leave your reviews. _


	34. Chapter 33

_I know, it's been a couple of weeks since I updated last and I am sincerely sorry. A couple of weekends ago I went to Chicago for the Anime Convention (ACen) with a couple of friends, and after that one of them had me start writing a Death Note story with them (I'll let you know when we start to put that one up and where you will be able to find it if your interested on my profile page). This story is almost done and I'm kind of sad about that, it was really fun to write. But at the same time I want it to end so I can get on with another story. Does that make any sense? I'm thinking another chapter, possibly two after this one, then the epiloge. Anyway, on with the chapter. I hope you enjoy! Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 33

Not to long after Rufus and the Turks left, Jasmine questioned about what had happened to make Shinra want to cooperate with AVALANCHE, a rebel group. It was her way of asking about the remnants she had overheard on the stairway earlier that day without giving away that she had overheard them. She was lucky that they ended up telling her about that anyway. Now it was late afternoon and Jasmine was sitting at the far side of the now busy bar, thinking about the information she had been given about the remnants and what Sephiroth had done since she had been gone.

'Remnants of Sephiroth…could it be possible that they were experiments performed by Hojo that had wanted to reunite with Jenova but didn't get there in time to do so at the crater? And is that the reason why they attacked Cloud and Shinra looking for her head? Then when one of them did get a hold of it and absorb her cells, Sephiroth was able to appear. Was it a trick of Jenova's cells? Then there is the issue of Sephiroth himself. He had destroyed the town Nibleheim out of anger about the project that had created him. That can be understandable, but wanting to destroy the world, find a new planet and rule over that one as a god? It just doesn't sound like Sephiroth at all…at least not the one I remember, the one I love. Is it possible that he could have been influenced by the cells that he carries within his body? Maybe I'm just thinking about this to hard. If Sephiroth has indeed come back for real this time, would-'

Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice. "You look like your staring off into space. Are you alright?"

She looked up at the owner of the voice. "Hi Tseng. I'm fine, I was just thinking. It's been my thing for, oh nine years now." She smiled at him as he sat across from her in the booth.

"I'm sorry about Elena's behavior earlier. She's a good Turk, but she can act impulsively at times."

"Just as long as Shinra or the Turks don't go after my son, you will be fine. I'm not going to allow what happened to Sephiroth to happen to my son." Jasmine said leveling him a look.

Tseng nodded. "I understand that. Rufus Shinra also understands that which is why he ordered us to leave him alone."

Jasmine looked at the customers at the bar. "Earlier I noticed someone was missing from the group of Turks." She turned her attention back to Tseng. "Where's Cissnei?"

Tseng gave a small sigh. "We don't know. She went out on a mission and she never returned. She hasn't been seen since before she left, and if she died her body was never recovered."

"I'm sorry to hear that Tseng. She was a good Turk."

He nodded. "Yes, she was."

They sat there in silence for a moment before Tseng spoke again. "A civilian had reported seeing a great bird with fire capabilities destroy some monsters that had gotten into town. Was that you?"

Jasmine smiled. "What do you think?"

Tseng smiled back. "Reno wasn't too happy that he had missed that when we received that report. I am not looking forward to working with him tomorrow and hear him complain that he had missed it. He had always wanted to see you summon since he heard that you possessed that ability."

Jasmine couldn't help but laugh at that. Reno could be an adult and very serious on the job when the situation called for it, but sometimes he could be such a baby. She couldn't help herself, she had to know. "So tell me Tseng. Is he still afraid of chocobos?"

Tseng gave a small chuckle. "How did you guess?"

Jasmine smiled, but didn't get a chance to answer. Tseng's phone went off and she could hear Reno since he was talking kind of loud. "Tseng there's a situation and your needed out here."

"Go." She told him when he looked at her as he stood up. "Be careful."

He gave her a reassuring nod before rushing out the door. That feeling that something was going to happen came back to her. She knew she was right when Cloud came into the bar. He gestured towards Vincent and he swiftly walked out of the bar past Cloud. He spotted Jasmine sitting at the far end of the bar and he approached her.

"Tifa and Yuffie are staying here to watch the kids, and I know you want to stay with your son, but could you possibly come out and help us fight these monsters? We could use your skills and summoning ability."

She looked towards the bar at Tifa, who gave her a small nod to assure her. She looked back at Cloud. "Alright, just let me see my son real quick."

He nodded and she quickly made her way upstairs. When she found him in the kid's room she beckoned him to her. "What's going on mom?" he asked when he approached her.

"There's monsters invading the city and I'm going to go help drive them out. I need you to promise me that you'll stay with Tifa and Yuffie and not to do anything reckless." She said.

"I promise if you promise to stay safe." Jack said.

"I'll try." She promised as she pulled her son into a hug. "I love you."

"I love you to mom. Be careful." He said as she pulled away from him and headed back down the stairs. 'Summons, please stay by her side and help her as needed. Please keep her safe.' Jack silently prayed as he gripped his blue crystal that hung about his neck.

Jasmine joined Cloud and Vincent outside. "Which area do you want me in?"

"You're going to stick with Vincent since he has a cell phone. When things have either calmed down or something has happened we contact each other." Cloud explained.

She nodded in understanding and followed Vincent in one direction as Cloud went in another. Vincent's fighting style was one that she was not used to. He was methodical and he seemed to think, and quickly think, before making a move.

"Wish I had more fighters like you back home. It would be really useful sometimes." Jasmine commented as they finished another batch of monsters. "They're good fighters, but they can be to energetic for their own good." She quickly explained.

He nodded. "I think this area is clear for now. Let's move on." Vincent started walking off, but he stopped when he noticed Jasmine wasn't following him, but looking towards the ruins of Midgar. "Jasmine?"

"I know where he is Vincent." She said turning towards him. "Please, let me go to him."

"I can't let you go alone."

"You have to. It's a slim chance but…" she looked at the sky that was becoming covered by clouds. "I think I may be able to save him."

"And if you can't?" he questioned.

She looked at him. "It'll kill me emotionally, but I'll send him to the lifestream." She took a deep breath. "If something were to happen to me, can I trust you to safely get Jack back home?"

Vincent gave a small sigh, knowing she wouldn't budge on this. "Alright, you have my word."

She nodded. "Tseng should still know the how to get to the island." She said as she backed away from him. "If he doesn't remember, then Jack will…thanks Vincent." With that she ran towards the ruins of Midgar. Vincent watched her disappear before turning and making his way towards the next area.

A chill ran down Jasmine's spine as she made her way through the ruins of Midgar. The clouds had gotten darker as she made her way through towards the Shinra building. It only made sense to her to start there since it was the place where they had first met. It took some climbing and backtracking, but she finally made it onto the plate where the ominous building was still standing. Well, most of it anyway.

She started to make her way towards the building when she stopped. She felt a presence behind her and she turned quickly to find nobody there. She sensed it again to her right and she quickly turned to again find nobody there.

"You were foolish to come here on your own." Said a voice from behind her.

She slowly turned towards the voice and found Sephiroth standing a bit away from her, with his masamune in his left hand. Just how she had remembered.

Her voice hitched in her throat a little. "Sephiroth." She whispered.

"Your not the one I was expecting, but you'll do for now."

"Don't you know who I am?" she asked.

"I cannot know someone I haven't met." He said raising his blade.

"Please don't make me do this." She begged, as she unsheathed her sword.

At that moment a young woman with black hair and violet eyes flashed into his mind. 'Her face. Her voice.' He thought then shook his head. "No! She's not her!" he yelled as he lunged at her.

She was barely able to get her double bladed sword up in time to block his attack. She had a hard time just trying to keep the blades from coming down on her. She gathered her strength and pushed against him, causing him to back away a bit and she dodged to her left, barely avoiding his long blade.

She quickly regained her footing and flipped back and down from the plate to avoid another attack. She lunged her blade at his as he dove after her. He flipped forward as they came down, bring his blade down on her again. She was able to block the attack by bring her sword up. She separated them and tried to attack at him with the other blade, but he jumped back to avoid her attack.

She had a small advantage when it came to using both of her blades separately. She knew she was making a bold move when she did this, and was very dangerous considering who she was up against. She lunged at him with both of her blades he was able to block one, so she spun around to attack him with the other, which he was able to dodge seemingly too easily.

He came at her again and she barely got one blade up to block his attack and she swung her other blade at him, but he was able to move his blade easily to block her attack. He swung his blade up, catching her off guard and was able to hit her blade hard enough it went flying away from her. She snapped her attention away from her flying blade back to him in time to move her head and dodge his attack. He was able to graze his blade against her cheek, drawing blood that had begun to trickle down her face.

She knew she had to get to her other blade. It was her only advantage and she knew it. All she could really hope for is to get him into a position where she would be able to dodge an attack, then she would take that opportunity to get to her other blade. He seemed to read her thoughts, because no matter what she did she couldn't get to her blade. Every time she was able to dodge an attack, she would go to her blade and he would be right there between her and it. She would dodge a series of his attacks, dodge and go for it again, and again he would be right there. She decided to try another tactic.

"Who is she? Is she the reason you want to rule as a god?" she asked. She needed to try to reach him somehow. She was tiring and her strength was beginning to wane. She was getting into big trouble.

"I will take her, and make her a goddess beside me." He said, again blocking her way to her other blade.

"What if that's not what she wants? What if she doesn't want to rule the world?" she asked, as she blocked another one of his attacks.

"She wants to be with me. That I know." He swept his blade across the ground, taking her feet out from under her. This time she didn't get the chance to block. She cried out in pain as his blade went through her shoulder to the ground, pinning her there. "You never should have tried to face me alone." He said as he gazed down at her. She met his eyes, and again the same woman flashed through his mind. Her face melded with hers, it was the same. She cried out again as he yanked the blade from the ground and her and stepped back several paces. He watched her as she sat up. "Stop trying to place a spell on me. You are not her!" he yelled as he raised his blade to lung at her again.

She gripped her red crystal as he came at her. "Sephiroth!" That only stopped him momentarily. He continued at her. "My White Knight! I need you now!"

The next thing she knew she was engulfed in a white light. She couldn't see anyone or anything except for one being, the same one she had met around nine years ago. "White Knight of Light, you're a healer aren't you?"

She smiled at her. "I told you, you would know what my power was when you felt the need to call upon me." She said as she reached toward her wound.

"Stop."

The White Knight stopped, her smile leaving her face. She was confused as to why she didn't want to be healed.

"Can you heal the darkness that dwells within a person?"

The smile returned, knowing what was on Jasmine's mind. "You want me to take away the darkness that dwells within Sephiroth, don't you?"

"Please." She begged. "I love him so much."

The White Knight nodded at her. "As you wish."

The white light disappeared and the scene returned. Sephiroth was coming at her, but he seemed to slow. He dropped his blade and collapsed.

The sun was nearly set when Sephiroth regained consciousness. He no longer was on the hard ground he remembered collapsing on, but on something soft. A bed?

"You're awake." He looked to the right to find the owner to the voice. "How are you feeling?"

"Jasmine." He breathed. He saw the cut on her cheek and gently brushed it. "I did that."

She gently took his hand. "Don't worry about it. It will heal."

"What happened? Why did I collapse like that?"

"Do you remember the White Knight I told you about?" he nodded. "She healed the darkness within you. Jenova had influence over you those years ago and a while ago. The White Knight took care of that. You won't be influenced by her anymore Sephiroth." She said as she brushed a few strands of hair from his face.

"I'm a monster Jasmine. I killed so many people. Innocent people."

Jasmine cupped his cheek. "You're not a monster Sephiroth. Jenova was the monster, influencing you. Controlling you to a certain extent."

"My mother…controlled me?"

Jasmine took a deep breath. "It's time that you know the truth. You carry the cells of Jenova, but she wasn't your birth mother. You were born from two humans Sephiroth." He gave her a questioning look. "There is someone I met recently who will be able to explain everything to you later. He will be able to do a better job of it than me." Sephiroth nodded and sat up. "Do you feel well enough to move around?"

"I feel well enough to face up to what I've done." He said standing up. "I need to meet with Cloud and speak with him."

"He and the rest of the AVALANCHE members are downstairs and are willing to talk. In the morning, your son will want to meet you." He slowly turned towards her. "You heard correctly Sephiroth." She gave him a small smile. "We have a son."

_A/N: I'm going to leave it there for now. They're finally reunited! I was kind of nervous about the battle. As you know, battle scenes are my weak point, so you're left to your imagination as to how those two may have fought. I'm sorry if it was a little disappointing, but I tried my best. Is it weird that I played One Winged Angel as I wrote their battle scene? And what did you think about the White Knight healing the darkness in him? I had that idea since a little past the beginning of the story. Yes, that's how far ahead I had planned. I know I'm weird. Please leave your reviews and let me know what your think. Again, I'm sorry for the delay in my update. I will try to update more regularly._


	35. Chapter 34

_Hey guys I'm back. I know I haven't updated in a couple of days, but I have been working on my other story with my friend and I have been neglecting this one. I'm so sorry about the delay. Enjoy the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters, I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 34

Time seemed to stand still as he absorbed this information. Jasmine held her breath as she waited for him to say something, anything.

"What's his name?" he finally asked.

"Jack, a normal name. I thought you would be happy with giving him a normal name rather than a traditional one." She gently answered.

Sephiroth started to quietly think. "That would make him…"

"He's almost nine." Jasmine figured out for him. "And all these years he's been waiting with me for you to come back."

"Nine years…I'm sorry."

Jasmine cupped his cheek to get him to look at her. "We'll discuss that later. Let's get things straightened out downstairs first."

He took her hand in his as he nodded. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze as they made their way towards the stairs and went down them.

Everybody was down in the bar, Tifa having closed it due to the circumstances, waiting for Jasmine to reappear. She had gone upstairs to check on her son and Sephiroth and she had taken a long while to do it. Cloud went back over the events of what had happened earlier as they waited.

He had met up with Vincent and when he had questioned Jasmine's whereabouts, Vincent told him she had gone into the ruins to find Sephiroth. Cloud knew that she probably wanted to meet him and see if she couldn't bring back the man she knew those years ago. When they did find them, Sephiroth was on the ground and Jasmine was kneeling over him. At first he thought that she may have killed him, but as they got closer he was able to see he was still breathing. She was injured, but nothing that was really too serious to worry about in that moment. She wouldn't allow them to heal her right away anyway.

When questioned about what had happened, Jasmine explained to them that he was not who he was when she knew him then. She summoned the White Knight and she was able to heal him from the influence of Jenova's cells. He had been, to a certain extent, been controlled by her cells, which was why he had tried to destroy the world in the first place. It was, for the most part, Jenova's will, not his entirely. She had assured them that now he would be who he was when she knew him, and he wouldn't try to kill anyone when he woke up. The White Knight had said she had taken care of the darkness the cells of Jenova had created. Cloud had reluctantly agreed to help her get Sephiroth back to Seventh Heaven.

Now Sephiroth was upstairs, resting and regaining strength. He was fully prepared to fight Sephiroth if the situation called for it. He had defeated him before, he could do it again. That much he was certain of. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard footsteps on the stairs. Everyone seemed to react at once, standing at the ready when Sephiroth appeared beside Jasmine. The tension was so thick in the room it could have been cut with a knife.

"Everybody please relax. You said you were willing to talk, not fight." Jasmine said, sensing the tension that had built up in the room.

"You wouldn't be as trusting if you had been in our position." The person she had recently met to be Cid said.

Jasmine opened her mouth to reply but Sephiroth cut in before she could say anything. "I killed a lot of people. All of them innocent. You all have the right to be on the defensive."

Everybody seemed to be in a state of shock. Not only was Sephiroth seemingly sane, but he was also being civil.

Sephiroth waited a moment before he started talking again. "I also know that one of them was someone who was very close to you all. I know that apologies are useless now, but I truly am sorry. If it is the only way for you to settle any anger you may have…then kill me."

A look of shocked hurt came over Jasmine's face at that statement and Cloud stepped forward a little. "You did kill a lot of people. One of them was a very close friend. I am not going to allow you to get killed and leave behind a woman who loves you and a boy fatherless for the rest of his life. That would be selfish." He said.

Jasmine released a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Sephiroth closed his eyes for a moment as if he needed to think. He opened them again and fixed them on Cloud. "Jasmine said that you wanted to talk?"

"She already explained to us about the Jenova cells, but there is one thing I need to know. How did you survive in the Northern Crater?"

"It was Jenova in my form that you had fought there, not me. I never left the crystallized mako in the crater until recently. That's why I'm not dead." He answered. "I was entombed during the fight there that I only recently broke out from."

"You mean to tell us that it was Jenova that we fought the entire time, not you?" Yuffie asked, visibly upset by this information.

"Yes, that is what I'm saying." Sephiroth answered.

"If you were alive this entire time, why didn't you return to Jasmine earlier?" Tifa asked. "She's been waiting for you for almost nine years."

"I was gaining strength." Sephiroth answered. "I…did want to create a new life on a new planet, but I didn't want all of it for myself. I did have Jasmine in mind. I wanted her to be by my side when I created the new life. I needed to gain strength if I was going to accomplish that, which is why I didn't return to her right away. I know that is my own ideal that was not influenced by the cells of my mo-…Jenova." He gave a small sigh. Just getting that old belief out of his mind was going to be very difficult for him. "Just who was my mother anyway?"

"A scientist by the name of Lucrecia Crescent." Vincent answered. "I don't have a picture of her with me right now, but I will get on for you."

"I'll tell you who your father was later." Jasmine said before Sephiroth could ask. He closed his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hey, we'll get through this together, okay?"

He gave a small sigh as he turned to look at her. "Yes, we will." He said as he nodded.

"Wait I have a question Jasmine." Yuffie said. "If Sephiroth was influenced by Jenova cells, but now has been cured of that, what about Jack? Won't he be affected by Jenova cells since Sephiroth is his father?"

Sephiroth looked at Yuffie then at Jasmine, a look of worry evident on his features. "She has a point."

"That is a good question." Jasmine said. She stood there in thought for a moment before turning to leave.

"Where are you going?" Sephiroth asked.

"To the back yard, there's enough room back there. I'm going to seek counsel with the White Knight." She answered.

"Does that mean your going to summon her?" Yuffie asked. She couldn't help but be excited, even in the current situation.

"Yes." She looked at everyone in the room. "Since this really is between her, Sephiroth and myself you are all welcome to watch, but I can't guarantee that you'll be able to see or hear her. To tell you the truth I've never sought counsel with a summon without the presence of people who don't possess the summoning ability."

"But Sephiroth will be able to see her?" Yuffie whined.

"I'm not entirely sure of that myself." She said as she turned to leave. "Only one way to find out."

Sephiroth followed her to the back. As soon as they left Tifa turned to Cloud. "What do you think of all this?"

"It would be interesting to hear what this summon has to say about this situation." Vincent said. "Giving the fact that Sephiroth has yet to attack anyone, I think it is safe to assume that Jasmine was able to save him from the cells of Jenova."

Cloud regarded Vincent for a moment. "He's right. I say we go ahead and be present as she summons this White Knight and find out the situation for ourselves. Once we see how the situation stands, we'll fill Barret, Red 13 and Reeve in on what we know. If things go well, Jasmine and Jack will be able to take Sephiroth with them when they return home."

"Then we better get out there. We don't want to miss anything." Yuffie said as she hurried to the backyard.

"Yeah, let's go." Cloud nodded as he and the rest followed Yuffie.

When they got there, they found Jasmine standing in the middle of the yard but Sephiroth was standing near the door. "She said that she would need the room, so it's best we stay over here." he said.

Jasmine took the crystal hanging from the necklace around her neck. She placed it between the palms of her hand and folded her fingers over the top of it, as if she were about to pray. She closed her eyes as she mentally called out to the White Knight. She opened her eyes when nothing happened.

"Sephiroth." She beckoned him to her. "Come here, I need you for this."

He quickly made his way over to her. "What do you want me to do?"

"I'm going to try something new here, so bear with me." She took his hand and pressed the crystal to his palm as she put her hand to his, pressing the crystal between their palms and she laced her fingers with his. She did the same with his other hand, just without the crystal. "Now, I need you to help me call to her mentally. Our hands must not break contact or we'll loose the connection with her."

"Why do you need me for this?" he questioned before they could get started.

"I believe she wants to talk to both of us, not just me." She answered. "Relax, close your eyes, and call out to her."

He did as was told. He closed his eyes and he mentally called out to the White Knight. He almost instantly felt a warmth overcome him, but it was gentle. Instinctively, he opened his eyes and he was no longer in the yard, but in a bright light that should have been blinding. He was relieved to see that Jasmine was still in front of him, here eyes also open.

"You have called upon me seeking counsel." A female's voice could be heard. "Don't try to look for me. I cannot show myself since one of you doesn't possess the power to summon."

"Yes, we want counsel from you. We wish to speak with you about our son." Jasmine said.

"You wish to know if he will be influenced by the Jenova cells that he received from his father, correct?"

"Yes, we need to know." Jasmine said.

"Your child was born from a love that was pure. As my gift to you, I healed any influence your son may have had from the cells before he was born." The White Knight answered.

"What about any other children we may create together?" Sephiroth asked. "Will they be influenced in any way?"

"No. You have been purified from the influence. Any children you two create in the future will have Jenova cells, but will not be influenced. You have nothing to fear. The cells will continue to be carried throughout your heritage you two will create, but the influence will remain dead." She explained. "Is there anything else you wish to seek counsel from me at this moment?"

"No, that was all. Thank you." Jasmine answered.

The light started to brighten in intensity. It got to the point where both of them had to close their eyes to it. When they opened them, they were back in the yard. Tears began to run down Jasmine's face. When Sephiroth saw this he pulled her to him in a hug.

"Everything's alright." He consoled her.

"I know, I was just so worried." She replied, the tears still running freely.

"That was…interesting." Cid said as they watched.

"Yes, it was." Vincent replied.

"It was weird though." Yuffie said. "We heard everything, yet we didn't see anything."

"I think this settles it." Cloud said. "From what we have just witnessed, I think it is safe to say we have nothing to worry about concerning Sephiroth and Jenova cells."

"Yes, I think so too." Tifa agreed.

_A/N: Okay, hopefully this chapter was enjoyable and gave you guys some answers. I don't know if I should be happy or if I should cry since this story is almost done. I'm thinking one more chapter then the epiloge. Since my friend is not at home and can't continue working on the Death Note story with me, I think I will try to wrap this story up for you tonight. I really don't have anything better to do. I see you guys are reading, but not reviewing. Please leave your reviews, they are greatly appreciated!_


	36. Chapter 35

_Hey guys. I'm so sorry I didn't get this story done for you the other night like I had promised. I hate it when things come up and you can't get the stuff you want to get done, done. I should be able to finish this story today for you before I have to go to work. I'm done babbling now, so enjoy the last chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters, I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Chapter 35

A storm had started up not to long after everyone went back inside after Jasmine had summoned the White Knight. She had gone upstairs to check on the kids, leaving Sephiroth to talk to make peace with everyone as well as learn more about the Jenova project that he wouldn't have been able to find out from reading the files in the basement of the Shinra manor. She was surprised when Sephiroth followed her to the bedroom she was borrowing, not long after she had entered it.

"How did it go?" she asked as she approached him.

"He blames himself for not being able to stop my mother from going through with it, but with Hojo having been there, I don't think she was given much of a choice on the matter. I don't think she really was as willing as Vincent said that she was. I think that she was forced to go through with it." He answered. He looked at her when she was in front of him. "You said you would tell me who my father was. Who is he?"

She took a deep breath before answering him. "I'm sure your going to be as shocked as I was when I learned about it. We both knew him, we just didn't know he was your father." She took another deep breath, afraid of what his reaction was going to be. "Your father is Hojo." She quietly told him.

Sephiroth's hands clenched and unclenched as he looked at her. "You mean to tell me, he did this to his own child?"

"He was an uncaring man Sephiroth. He only cared about his science and research." She placed her hands on both sides of his face. "You're not him."

"What if I become him? What if I become uncaring towards my own son?" he asked.

"Then I'll beat the crap out of you till you become yourself again." She smiled at him. "You were never like Hojo then Sephiroth. You're going to be fine."

He gave a her small smile, knowing that she was right. He gently pulled her into his arms, wrapping her in a hug. He laid his cheek against the top of her head, taking in the scent of her hair.

She nuzzled into his chest as he held her. "I missed you, so much."

"I missed you to." He said, placing a kiss on top of her head. "I love you."

She looked up at him. "I love you to."

He bent down, capturing her lips with his. She parted her lips, allowing his tongue to enter and explore her mouth. They enjoyed the intimacy of each other's mouths, remembering the tastes and textures of the others. Only stopping when they needed air.

"We shouldn't let it go to far. We are in someone else's home you know." She panted.

"I know. There is always the boat ride back home." He replied.

She couldn't help but smile at that statement. He was already thinking of her home as his. "I have connections in Junon. I'll give them a call tomorrow and find out when we'll be able to return home."

"Sounds like a plan." He replied as he pulled her towards the bed.

"I really missed this." She said as she snuggled next to him when they settled in.

He put his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. "This time, I'm not letting go." He whispered to her as they drifted to sleep.

Jasmine blinked at the morning rays that drifted in through the window.

"Good morning."

She jumped a little at the greeting. She looked to her right to find Sephiroth still in bed with her. "Good morning." She returned with a smile.

"Why did you jump?" he teased.

"I didn't expect you to still be in bed. You were always an early riser." She answered.

"Just because I'm still in bed doesn't mean I didn't wake up early." He replied.

"Then what have you been doing?" she asked.

"Watching you sleep. You drool a lot." He teased.

That earned him a playful hit with one of the pillows. "Get used to it." She teased back as she got out of bed.

"Do you think Jack is awake yet?" he asked as he followed her out of bed.

She looked at the clock that read 8:30. "With the storm having waked him last night, he'll probably sleep for another half an hour, hour at the most." She answered.

He nodded as he began to get dressed. He couldn't help but feel a little nervous as to how his son would react to finally meeting him. After they finished dressing he followed her downstairs.

"Good morning. Do you two want anything to eat?" Tifa greeted as they emerged in the bar area.

"Not right now Tifa thanks, but I would like to borrow your phone if I could." Jasmine answered.

"Sure." Tifa said. "It's on the right wall past that door." She pointed to the door that lead to the kitchen.

"Thanks." Jasmine said as she disappeared into the kitchen.

Tifa watched as Sephiroth leaned against the counter of the bar crossing his arms as he did so. "Would you like some coffee or something Sephiroth?"

He looked at her from where he was leaning. "No thank you." He looked at the door that Jasmine had disappeared behind then to the stairs. He wanted to see his son, but he didn't want to risk the chance of waking him. He also hoped that he didn't come down the stairs without Jasmine being there. He didn't know how to prepare meeting his son, and that bothered him.

"Sephiroth stop worrying." He turned to see Jasmine had returned. "He'll be ecstatic to meet you, I promise." She said as she approached him.

"How can you be so sure?" he asked.

"Because he's talked about meeting you since he could talk." She answered as she put her arms around him.

"Let's hope your right." He replied, as he put his arms around her.

Tifa was quite surprised at the affection that Sephiroth was showing Jasmine. When she had met him back in Nibelheim, she thought that he was a cold individual, but she understood now that he was that way because of his upbringing he most likely had. Unless you had approached him and talked to him, you wouldn't get to know him, which is what Jasmine had done when they weren't training together when they were still in Shinra. Because she had approached him, he willingly approached her and their love bloomed from there. She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard footsteps on the stairs case.

'I really didn't think he would be up this early.' Jasmine thought as she disengaged herself from Sephiroth and found their son in the doorway, looking at them.

He seemed to hesitate before he spoke. "Dad?"

Sephiroth nodded. "Yes Jack, it's me."

There was no hesitation as Jack approached him and hugged him. "You have no idea how long I've waited to meet you."

"I know Jack." Sephiroth replied as he gently put his arms around his son. "And I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

Jasmine ran her fingers through her son's hair as he hugged his father. "We'll be able to be home for your birthday Jack."

Jack looked up at his mother. "We're going to be leaving soon?" he almost looked upset by this.

She nodded. "In a couple of days. I know you made friends here, but we can always come back and visit."

"You really mean that?"

Jasmine nodded. "Yes."

"Yes." Sephiroth agreed, putting an arm around Jasmine as he continued to hug Jack. "We'll come back and visit together."

A couple of days later they left for Junon so they could return home. Jasmine had made sure to give Reno, Rude and Tseng a call to give her goodbyes, but decided that it was best they didn't know about Sephiroth's return and that he was going home with her. Cloud and the rest of AVALANCHE had agreed to keep quiet about everything that had happened. The group even saw the family off in Junon, Jack promising Denzel and Marlene that he would come back and visit whenever he could. It all seemed to soon to him when they had to board the ship and to leave.

The three spent the day out on the deck, enjoying the sun, sea air and each other's company. Jack took the opportunity to talk and get to know his father, hearing old stories about his past, Sephiroth deciding to save the story of Nibleheim for when he was older. They retired inside when night fell.

"He's asleep." Sephiroth said as he entered the living quarters he was sharing with Jasmine.

"He should be with all the fresh sea air he got today." Jasmine replied, smiling at him.

Sephiroth didn't waste time in closing the distance between them. When he got to her he started to devour her mouth as he backed her towards the bed. "I hope your up for a long night." He said when they had to part for air.

She smiled. "As long as its with you."

_A/N: This is the last full chapter. There is an epilogue after this, so it's not quite the end. Just a few loose ends to wrap up and this story will be done. Please leave your reviews, they are greatly appreciated. _


	37. Epilogue

_Here is the epilogue. I'm sorry that the last chapter was short, but it really is just bringing everything to a close and here is where all the loose ends get tied up. Enjoy! Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters, I'm just borrowing them. Megz has rights to the title._

Epilogue

Jasmine smiled as she looked out the window watching her son and now husband Sephiroth training in the backyard of their home. Sephiroth had taken over teaching their son how to fight with a sword when they had returned. Jasmine turned to her two month old daughter when she started cooing in her arms and smiled as she looked down at her. Her thoughts turning back to when she returned home with her son and Sephiroth.

They had only been home a month when the two married. Only eight months later did they welcome their daughter, Lola into the family. Even though she did most of the running of the island, Sephiroth did his share to help and did even more so when they found out they were expecting and after Lola was born. Sephiroth was ecstatic when Lola resembled her mother, and Jasmine was happy that she got her father's eyes. She came from her thoughts when she heard someone enter the room.

"Training over?" she smiled as Sephiroth approached her.

"For now." He smiled back, then smiling down at his daughter. "Hello princess."

"Your happy, Sephiroth?"

"Very. And you?" he returned with a smile.

She smiled back at him. "I couldn't be happier."

~Fin~

_A/N: That's the end. I'm gonna cry now. This really has been fun to write. I just want to let you guys know that I have another Vincent Valentine story started in my head called Valentine's Rose, so be sure to keep an eye out for it. I may not get started on writing that until tomorrow since I have work soon. I should feel up to starting that one after I get off work tomorrow since I've been looking forward to writing this one for a while. I really hoped you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please leave your reviews and let me know what you think about this story. I would really appreciate them._


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